Outputs

* indicates student co-author

In review

  • Molina R., Villaseñor-Derbez J.C., McDonald G., and McDermott. The Economic and Environmental Cost of Pirate Avoidance. Revise and resubmit at Nature Communications (R&R requested June 8, 2026: NCOMMS-25-93345A) | working paper
  • Villaseñor-Derbez J.C. et al., Towards Assessing Generalizability of Adaptive Responses in Small-Scale Fisheries. npj Ocean Sustainability (submitted on June 25, 2026: 5fc3f864-31e2-4569-8f8f-25f06f4e2a44) | working paper

2026

  • Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Willet Burfoot A*, and Molina R. Competitiveness in American Seafood Requires Promoting Climate-Resilient Fisheries. Fish & Fisheries. 2026 July 6; 1:8 | doi: 10.1111/faf.70108
  • Schiller L, Villaseñor-Derbez J.C., Lynham J, and Worm B Global impacts of drifting fish aggregating devices on marine protected areas. Science Advances. 2026 June 17; 12:25. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aee6998
  • Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Fernández R, Fulton S, Hernández-Velasco A, Hernández T, Woodson CB, Cárdenas JC, DeLeo GA, Torre J, Micheli F. Digital technologies and the study of adaptation in small-scale fisheries. Ocean & Coastal Management. 2026 Apr 1;275:108071. doi: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2025.108071

2025

  • Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Lynham J, Garibay-Toussaint I, Narchi NE, O’Connor R, Olguín-Jacobson C, DeLeo GA, Torre J, Arafeh-Dalmau N, Fulton S, Woodson CB. Climate-resilient fisheries are more resilient in general. npj Ocean Sustainability. 2025 Nov 11;4(1):56. doi: 10.1038/s44183-025-00154-1
  • Arafeh-Dalmau N, Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Schoeman DS, Mora-Soto A, Bell TW, Butler CL, et al. Global floating kelp forests have limited protection despite intensifying marine heatwave threats. Nature Communications. 2025;16: 3173. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-58054-4
  • Englander G, Zhang J, Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Jiang Q, Hu M, Deschenes O, et al. Input subsidies and the depletion of natural capital: Chinese distant water fishing. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 2025;130: 103127. doi:10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103127

2024

  • Lynham J, Villaseñor-Derbez JC. Evidence of spillover benefits from large-scale marine protected areas to purse seine fisheries. Science. 2024;386: 1276–1281. doi:10.1126/science.adn1146
  • Kumagai JA, Goodman MC, Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Schoeman DS, Cavanuagh KC, Bell TW, et al. Marine protected areas that preserve trophic cascades promote resilience of kelp forests to marine heatwaves. Global Change Biology. 2024;30: e17620. doi:10.1111/gcb.17620
  • Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Arafeh-Dalmau N, Micheli F. Past and future impacts of marine heatwaves on small-scale fisheries in Baja California, Mexico. Communications in Earth & the Environment. 2024;5: 623. doi:10.1038/s43247-024-01696-x
  • Villasenor-Derbez JC, Costello C, Plantinga AJ. A market for 30x30 in the ocean. Science. 2024;384: 1177–1179. doi:10.1126/science.adl4019

2023

  • Arafeh-Dalmau N, Munguia-Vega A, Micheli F, Vilalta-Navas A, Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Précoma-de la Mora M, et al. Integrating climate adaptation and transboundary management: Guidelines for designing climate-smart marine protected areas. One Earth. 2023;6: 1523–1541. doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2023.10.002
  • Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Fulton S, Hernández-Velasco A, Amador-Castro IG. Biomass accrual benefits of community-based marine protected areas outweigh their operational costs. Frontiers in Marine Science. 2023;10: 1180920. doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1180920
  • Pearson HC, Savoca MS, Costa DP, Lomas MW, Molina R, Pershing AJ, et al. Whales in the carbon cycle: can recovery remove carbon dioxide? Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 2023;38: 238–249. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2022.10.012

2022

  • Wilson MW, Lawson JM, Rivera-Hechem MI, Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Gaines SD. Evaluating conditions for moored fish aggregating device fisheries development in the Caribbean and Bermuda. Frontiers in Marine Sciencei. 2022;9: 827068. doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.827068
  • Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Amador-Castro IG, Hernández-Velasco A, Torre J, Fulton S. Two decades of community-based marine conservation provide the foundations for future action. Frontiers in Marine Science. 2022;9: 893104. doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.893104
  • Wintergalen EW, Oyanedel R, Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Fulton S, Molina R. Opportunities and challenges for livelihood resilience in urban and rural Mexican small-scale fisheries. Ecolgy & Society. 2022;27. doi:10.5751/es-13471-270346

2021

  • Ramírez-Valdez A, Rowell TJ, Dale KE, Craig MT, Allen LG, Villaseñor-Derbez JC, et al. Asymmetry across international borders: Research, fishery and management trends and economic value of the giant sea bass (Stereolepis gigas). Fish & Fisheries. 2021;22: 1392–1411.
  • Tuholske C, Halpern BS, Blasco G, Villasenor JC, Frazier M, Caylor K. Mapping global inputs and impacts from of human sewage in coastal ecosystems. PLoS One. 2021;16: e0258898. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0258898
  • Millage KD, Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Bradley D, Burgess MG, Lenihan HS, Costello C. Self-financed marine protected areas. Environmental Research Letters. 2021;16: 125001. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac3439

2020

  • Wilson MW, Lawson JM, Rivera-Hechem MI, Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Gaines SD. Status and trends of moored fish aggregating device (MFAD) fisheries in the Caribbean and Bermuda. Mar Policy. 2020;121: 104148. Available: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X20304796
  • Lynham J, Nikolaev A, Raynor J, Vilela T, Villaseñor-Derbez JC. Impact of two of the world’s largest protected areas on longline fishery catch rates. Nature Communications. 2020;11: 979. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14588-3
  • Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Lynham J, Costello C. Environmental market design for large-scale marine conservation. Nature Sustainability. 2020;3: 234–240.

2019

  • Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Aceves-Bueno E, Fulton S, Suarez A, Hernández-Velasco A, Torre J, et al. An interdisciplinary evaluation of community-based TURF-reserves. PLoS One. 2019;14: e0221660. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221660
  • Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Fitzgerald S. Spatial variation in allometric growth of invasive lionfish has management implications. PeerJ. 2019;7: e6667. doi:10.7717/peerj.6667
  • O’Hara CC, Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Ralph GM, Halpern BS. Mapping status and conservation of global at-risk marine biodiversity. Conservation Letters. 2019;12: e12651.

2018

  • Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Faro C, Wright M, Martínez J, Fitzgerald S, Fulton S, et al. A user-friendly tool to evaluate the effectiveness of no-take marine reserves. PLoS One. 2018;13: e0191821. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0191821
  • Peake J, Bogdanoff AK, Layman CA, Castillo B, Reale-Munroe K, Chapman J, et al. Feeding ecology of invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles) in the temperate and tropical western Atlantic. Biological Invasions. 2018;20: 2567–2597. Available: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-018-1720-5

2016

  • Hernández-Velasco A, Fernández-Rivera-Melo FJ, Melo‐Merino SM, Villaseñor‐Derbez JC. Occurrence of Holacanthus clarionensis (Pomacanthidae), Stegastes leucorus, and Stegastes acapulcoensis (Pomacentridae) at Magdalena Bay, B.C.S., Mexico. Marine Biodiversity Records. 2016;9: 1–7. doi:10.1186/s41200-016-0062-1

2015

  • Dreyfus-León MJ, Mejía-Trejo A, Villaseñor-Derbez JC. Analysis of null sets (zero catch) made by the Mexican tuna purse seine fleet (2000–2013). Ciencias Marinas. 2015;41: 85–92.

2014

  • Villaseñor-Derbez JC, Herrera-Pérez R. Brief description of prey selectivity and ontogenetic changes in the diet of the invasive lionfish Pterois volitans (Actinopterygii, Scorpaenidae) in the Mexican Caribbean. Panamerican Journal of Aquatic Sciences. 2014;9: 131–135.

In Progress

  • Villaseñor-Derbez J.C., Costello C., and Deschênes O. Natural Experiments Show Fuel Subsidies Amplify Fishing Pressure in Industrial Fisheries. | working paper
  • Villaseñor-Derbez J.C. and Lynham J. High-Seas Closures Can be Enforced but Deliver Limited Conservation Benefits | working paper
  • Villaseñor-Derbez J.C., Reigrut J.D.*, Fulton S, López-Ercilla I, Torre J., De Leo G., Hernández-Velasco A., Quintana A. , Aceves-Bueno E.; Micheli F. Having your cake and eating it too: limited harvesting in marine reserves allows fishers to stay afloat | working paper coming soon
  • Abe K., Molina R., Tanaka K., Villaseñor-Derbez J.C.. No Calm Before the Storm: Typhoons, Shipping, and Trade | CESifo Working Paper No. 12746
  • Molina, R., Villaseñor-Derbez J.C., and Agar J., The Economic Impacts of Hurricanes in Fisheries in the United States. | working paper coming soon
  • Rhodes A*. and Villaseñor-Derbez J.C.. Changes in Fishing Activity Following an Fuel Subsidy Reform: Insights from the Mexican Tuna Longline Fleet | working paper coming soon
  • Romero M.E. and Villaseñor-Derbez J.C. Distributional Implications of North America’s Largest Marine Protected Area. | working paper coming soon

Data Explorers

Datasets

Software

  • EventHorizon: An R Package to build panels for event-study models based on a user-specified time horizon for repeated interventions
  • EVR628tools: An R Package with datasets, palettes, and functions to help in the instruction of EVR 528 / 628 Introduction to Data Management and Visualization for Environmental Scientists.