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Rules were established in the shallower waters of Tabasco to prevent fishing close to oil platforms ships. The article analyzes the perception of exclusion on the part of fishermen with respect to the petrolization of their marine space. Three workshops were carried out in order to obtain the fishermen's view; participatory mapping was employed to get an understanding of their fishing areas and of oil activities, as well as of the tensions between them and the "others". Spatial injustice is evident in the active exclusion of fishermen from the space surrounding oil platforms, as well as in the passive exclusion due to contamination, insecurity, and even more, bleak perspectives for the future. The article shows that these exclusions began with an acceptable arrangement for the inclusion of fishermen, which, nevertheless, led to their exclusion in order to increase extraction, given the exhaustion of Mexico's public oil extraction system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Tabasco, in the Mexican Gulf of Mexico, many small-scale fishers follow their catch to prohibited offshore areas set aside for the oil industry's extractive activities. They claim that increased seismic studies and oil extraction displace and kill fish, contributing to a reduction in hauls, which acts as an incentive to the fishers to continue accessing traditional fishing grounds in the recently prohibited areas. The author draws on theoretical ideas from de la Cadena and Ingold to examine the fishers' offshore movement and related knowledge claims as 'excess', or beyond conventional political discourses, interrogating the multiple and contested meanings that fishers attach to their sea environment, fish and fishing in the context of increased oil extraction operations. The article shows that these meanings are difficult to articulate within a political frame that constitutes the offshore extraction area as a 'sacrifice zone'. However, the respective knowledges of fishers and the oil industry about the industry's impacts on marine life rely on patchy evidence, lack systematicity, and are motivated by political interests. The author argues that scientific indeterminacy about the causes of depleting fish populations and the weakness of environmental legislation exclude fishers' knowledge from politics while recognising the oil industry's knowledge as valid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines neoliberal forms of resource governance and emerging struggles over control of sea space between coastal fishers, the para-statal oil industry and government authorities in the State of Tabasco, Mexico. The analysis focuses on the changing mechanisms of resource governance and networking related to contested claims over rights to offshore space. The study is based on material collected during ethnographic field research in Tabasco in 2011–2014. By linking a post-Foucauldian approach to governmentality with a Deleuzian perspective on networks, our research examines resource governance as a socio-political arena, constructed in negotiation between multiple governmental, private and civil society actors, including heterogeneous groups from local populations. The study demonstrates how hybrid techniques of resource governance lead to fishers’ socio-spatial displacement, marginalization in the fields of political representation and subjection to ideas of aquaculture entrepreneurship. The ensemble of private regulation and governmental control provides a venue for drawing fishers into clientelist practices of governing while it diffuses questions of responsibility. These modes of governance fragment the fishers’ efforts to mobilize politically, making them rely on less visible networks of contestation shaped by heterogeneous fishing groups, with varying access to resources and political representation. Recent transformations in environmental legislation and the fishers’ mobile tactics of networking may offer opportunities for them to reclaim their resource rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Coastal ecosystems are subject to many anthropogenic pressures, including pollution and the enhancement of sedimentation due to human activities. The lower reach of the Coatzacoalcos River is considered to be the most polluted coastal area of Mexico due to the presence of major petrochemical production centers in its watershed. In order to show the impact of land use change and industrial activities on the adjacent coastal environment of the Coatzacoalcos River, we reconstructed the historical changes of sediment transport and trace metals contamination based on the study of a 210Pb dated sediment core. Several geochemical indicators, such as clay mineral content, the concentrations of reference elements (Al, Ca, Sr, Rb) and the carbon isotope ratio (δ13C) revealed a change of sediment and contamination sources since the early 80s, in coincidence with the large industrial and urban development in the area. We conclude that the increased contaminant loads were related to terrestrial sources, likely contaminated and eroded soils from the catchment, due to extensive land use changes. Although the contaminant enrichment since the early 80s was low, As, Hg and Ni concentrations show potentially dangerous levels and exceed the USEPA-ERL concentration benchmarks, thus constituting a potential threat to marine aquatic life and humans through seafood consumption. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The "Subdirección de Ingeniería y Desarrollo de Obras Estratégicas" of "Petróleos Mexicanos" determined that it was necessary to accelerate the evolution of knowledge within this organization, in order to achieve this purpose the "Subdirección de Ingeniería y Desarrollo de Obras Estratégicas" decided to develop and implement a Knowledge Management System. However, when trying to implement a Knowledge Management System, it was found that knowledge management models only provide generic sets of steps on how to carry out Knowledge Management, without specifying how to develop and implement Knowledge Management Systems in any organizations; hence the need of developing a Methodology that may suit the specific purposes required by the "Subdirección de Ingeniería y Desarrollo de Obras Estratégicas", this four stages Methodology of Knowledge Management, is denominated DGAM. This nomination corresponds to each one of the four stages of the methodology: Determination, Generation, Accessibility and Maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We draw on the selectorate theory and detailed historical research to explain how a government relationship with foreign multinationals will depend on the strategies followed by the host country's ruler to assure his/her political survival. Focusing in three oil-exporting countries (Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico) and one firm (Standard Oil Company of New Jersey) during the twentieth century, we show that oil rents are a valuable resource for the host country's ruler to assure the loyalty of his/her winning coalition. • We argue that a government depending on a small winning coalition will use oil rents as a private good to be distributed among those close to the ruler, while a government relying on large coalitions will use oil rents as public goods to be distributed among the population. When acting against foreign multinationals, the host government is constrained by the political power of the firms' home country over the host country and by the relationship between the firm and its home country. Finally, we show that shared political agendas between host and home governments give the host government more space to maneuver against foreign firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories of environment and development tend to preemptively strip developing-country firms of environmental agency, depicting them as passive targets of market, regulatory, and ideational influences originating elsewhere. This research examines the processes by and conditions under which developing-country firms actively “import” environmental norms, programs, and practices, drawing on a case study of Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex)—one of the world’s largest oil companies and the only nationally-owned, developing-country oil company that has adopted a cooperative corporate climate policy. The article demonstrates that the company’s decision to support action on climate change resulted from efforts by climate policy entrepreneurs within Pemex’s environment division. They showed agency in choosing to prioritize the climate issue, in scanning their institutional environment for a climate policy template, in adjusting the template to suit Pemex’s particular circumstances, and in promoting the climate policy to internal and external constituencies. The research also highlights the prominent role of private sector channels in processes of environmental norm diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The petrochemical industry and urban activities are widely recognized worldwide as a source of pollution to mangrove environments. They can supply pollutants such as trace elements that can modify the ecosystem structure and associated services, as well as human populations. Through geochemical data, multivariate statistical analysis and pollution indices such as the enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo), adverse effect index (AEI) and the pollution load index (PLI), we evaluated the factors that control trace element distribution, punctual sources and determined the pollution level of sediments and their potential biological impact in the mangrove ecosystem of Isla del Carmen, Mexico. The factor and cluster analysis highlighted that the distribution of trace elements is influenced by the mineralogy, texture as well as urban derived sources. The pollution indices showed values in the punctual sources from the urban area of EF > 10, Igeo > 3, AEI > 3, PLI > 1 by Cu, Zn and Pb. Finally, the results revealed that mangroves from Isla del Carmen has a major influence from urban activities and natural sources rather than oil industry and also indicate a degraded environment as a result of anthropogenic activities that could have knock-on effect for human health if polluted marine organisms derived from the urban mangroves are consumed. CAPSULE ABSTRACT: Surface sediments show the influence of point sources on selected trace element concentrations correlated with human activities within the mangroves of Isla del Carmen, Mexico., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We have no competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)