Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor, Ph.D.

Understanding how economic incentives can benefit communities and marine conservation

Market-based incentives, which aim to change behavior through economic costs, have often proved ineffective for advancing marine conservation, particularly in small-scale fisheries. While these approaches have shown success in some contexts, they frequently encounter challenges or are discontinued over time. Complex social and economic dynamics and entrenched inequities can make it difficult for financial benefits from conservation actions—such as adopting new fishing methods or gear—to consistently reach the intended beneficiaries, namely the small-scale fishers and coastal communities implementing them. However, growing global interest in developing ocean resources to promote economic growth offers an opportunity to rethink and revitalize incentive-based strategies in coastal fisheries.

Andrés Cisneros-Montemayor will develop a replicable framework to identify the social connections that shape markets in the ocean economy, facilitating the design and implementation of local-scale incentives for conservation. Working with three fishing communities in Sonora, Mexico, he will apply this framework, conducting field interviews and community engagement workshops to map and understand the layered interactions that influence economic decision-making. Based on these insights, Cisneros-Montemayor will collaborate with community members and other stakeholders to codesign actions and policies that can more effectively channel income from conservation initiatives back into communities and the people that implement them.

To learn more about Dr. Cisneros-Montemayor, read his bio.

See the full list of 2026 Pew marine fellows.