Posted on julio, 01 2025

Background

This consultancy will focus on the coastal-marine zone of Yucatán State, WWF’s priority seascape, where overfishing, habitat degradation, and unsustainable practices threaten marine biodiversity and socio-economic benefits for people. Artisanal fishing is vital to the economy and culture of the Yucatán region, yet fisheries are under increasing pressure, with many species overexploited or in decline. There is a pressing need for sustainable financing mechanisms and stronger market linkages to support short and long-term actions that reduce illegal fishing, improve livelihoods, and strengthen governance in the sector.

Objectives

The consultancy will support the design of WWF´s work in Yucatan´s coastal-marine area through two interconnected objectives:

1. Develop sustainable financing strategies for Fish Refuge Zones (Zonas de Refugio Pesquero, ZRPs) in Yucatan. This includes identifying and prioritizing sustainable financing mechanisms (SFMs) or return-on-investment (ROI) structures and developing implementation pathways for the identified mechanisms to ensure the financial sustainability and replicability of these ZRPs.
2. Analyze demand for sustainable seafood in the tourism sector, focusing on hotels, restaurants, food service companies, and distributors in the Yucatán Peninsula. This includes conducting a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the demand for sustainable seafood products in the tourism sector that will lead to the design of a strategy to link the tourism sector with sustainably sourced seafood products, specifically from the ZRPs.

Importantly, Objective 2 complements Objective 1 by identifying potential market linkages that can serve as a foundation for the financial mechanisms proposed under Objective 1. These market connections will be essential in sustaining ZRPs by creating ongoing demand for responsibly harvested seafood.

Scope of Work

Objective 1: Sustainable Financing Mechanisms for ZRPs

• 1.1.  Identify priority management needs within the ZRPs of Yucatán that require financing and conduct a financial gap analysis to determine whether and what type of financial mechanism or instrument is needed.
• 1.2. Identify and describe potential relevant sustainable financing mechanisms or ROI structures, such as payment for ecosystem services, impact investment models, community trust funds, value-chain premiums, or tourism-linked instruments.
• 1.3. Evaluate feasibility of the identified financial mechanisms, including legal feasibility, political feasibility, capacity needs, transaction costs, financial volume, duration and flexibility of funding use, administrative requirements, co-benefits, and prioritize 3-5 mechanisms based on this feasibility analysis.
• 1.4. Develop an implementation roadmap of the prioritized mechanisms, identifying key actors, governance models, funding sources, timelines, and necessary technical or financial support.

Objective 2: Market Demand and Strategy for Sustainable Seafood

2.1. Carry out a quantitative and qualitative diagnosis of demand for regional and local fishery products in the tourism sector:

• 2.1.1. Map hotels, restaurants, distributors, and key companies in Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo.
• 2.1.2.  Conduct 20–30 interviews with key actors—including procurement managers, chefs, food service companies, and tourism consortia—to identify which species they purchase (including quantities and selection criteria such as price, origin, and sustainability). Assess their level of awareness and interest in traceable and sustainable products, the potential role they could play in promoting market demand for such products, and the barriers and opportunities they perceive in shifting toward more local, traceable, and responsible sourcing.
• 2.1.3. Characterize purchasing portfolios and procurement policies, focusing on local and regional species used such as lobster, grouper, and octopus, sourcing standards, interest in traceability mechanisms, and willingness to adopt more sustainable options. Identify willingness to switch to local and regional, more responsible options, and barriers to doing so.

2.2. Design a strategy to collaborate with identified companies to work towards sourcing of more sustainable seafood:

• 2.2.1. Develop recommendations for sustainable and traceable seafood sourcing policies by company type (e.g., hotels, food service, restaurant) that include support of local fisheries species
• 2.2.2. Provide a list of key actors to engage (e.g., procurement managers and chefs at identified hotels)
• 2.2.3. Outline a process for working with identified hospitality companies to implement sustainable and traceable seafood procurement policies.

2.3. Identify how strengthened supply chain linkages can support the design and long-term viability of sustainable finance mechanism(s) under Objective 1

• 2.3.1. Assess where and how market relationships and purchasing commitments can contribute to financing or incentivizing sustainable practices in ZRPs.
• 2.3.2. Explore potential revenue-sharing models, pre-financing arrangements, or cost-offset mechanisms tied to verified sourcing from ZRPs.
• 2.3.3. Synthesize insights to inform the structure, revenue flows, and incentive design of the Sustainable Finance Mechanism(s) under Objective 1, ensuring alignment between market opportunities and financing needs in ZRPs.

Expected outputs and deliverables

Objective 1: Sustainable Financing Mechanisms for ZRPs

Objective 2: Market Demand and Strategy for Sustainable Seafood

Qualifications

The ideal consultant or team will possess:

1. Proven experience in designing sustainable financing models in marine or fisheries contexts
2. Strong knowledge of fisheries management, marine conservation, and value chains
3. Demonstrated ability to conduct stakeholder engagement in community and private sector settings
4. Familiarity with the Mexican (preferably Yucatán Peninsula) context and local governance frameworks
5. Experience in market research and developing procurement or sourcing strategies
6. Fluency in Spanish and working knowledge of English

Total budget for technical/financial proposals in response to these Terms of Reference should not exceed USD $55,000.

Proposals must be emailed to fcisneros@wwfmex.org and erivera@wwfmex.org before July 16th, 2025