BajaNomad

The SEMARNAP Samba

Oso - 5-21-2005 at 06:56 PM

Due to popular demand (all 3 of them)

The SEMARNAP Samba
By Oso
First online 7/13/99 www.bajanet.com

?Forget San Diego,? said Nigel, ?you can get your tourist card and fishing license in Ensenada.? Well, Nigel should know, I thought. He?s lived in Ensenada off & on for years. It was only halfway through the ?dance lesson? that I realized one crucial detail; Nigel doesn?t fish. He?d never actually done the SEMARNAP Samba.

It began with the surly, suspicious slob at Migracion (which, of course, is on the wrong side of the street, going north back to the border, with exactly one available parking space). ?Where do I get a fishing license?? I asked in English, not wanting to let the migra know that I spoke Spanish. ?Maybe you get from boat captain,? he said, waving me out the door. ?Well no, actually I plan to surf fish mostly,? I said. [At the time I didn?t know a license was not required to fish from shore.] ?Maybe you go Anthony?s Bar. Maybe round there.? He said, his body language indicating that maybe I go and do something vaguely immoral and physically impossible to myself, further assistance being clearly beyond his responsibility or inclination.

Well, Anthony?s Bar (the one with the gorilla) is sort of near where the guidebooks [circa 1999] say the Secretaria de Pesca may be found. Only it isn?t there anymore and it isn?t the Secretaria de Pesca anymore. It?s the Secretaria de Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca (SEMARNAP), and it?s on the second floor of a small commercial building at the corner of Ave. Guadalupe and Calle Segunda (second street). Only you won?t find any street signs saying Calle Segunda. If you find any street signs at all [rare], they will say Cabrillo. Despite both guidebooks and local maps showing 1st, 2nd, 3rd streets, those are not their official names and they are not marked as such. Ave. Lopez Mateos is ?understood? to be AKA ?1st St.? and so on.

Once there (2 hrs later), and feeling safe enough to use my reasonably fluent Spanish, I found the young lady in charge of sporting licenses and was shown a chart with prices for 1 day, one week, etc. As the price was the same for one month as it was for 2 weeks, I chose the former.

?Do you have the forms?? She asked. ?I?m supposed to bring the forms? You don?t have them here?? I naively asked. ?You will have to get them at Hacienda,? she said, referring to another bureaucracy, the Secretaria de Hacienda. ?It?s just around the corner,? she added helpfully, handing me a slip of paper denoting two copies of form number 5. I walked around a rather long block searching for an elusive governmental monolith. What I found was a small storefront selling children?s notebooks, school supplies and yes, government forms.

?Only two copies?? asked the pleasant matron behind the counter, ?They usually want three.? I was not about to argue and since the cost per form was only a few cents, would have bought dozens, if necessary. Returning to SEMARNAP, I presented the forms and relayed the store clerk?s opinion that three copies might be required. ?Is it three?? the young lady asked a co-worker. ?Yes, I think so.? I waited for the forms to be typed up in triplicate, glad that I had not tried to save 50 centavos and been sent back for another. When she returned to the counter, I reached for my wallet. ?Oh, you don?t pay here.? She said. ?You have to go to BANAMEX?.

?Excuse me, Miss, you sell fishing licenses here but you don?t have the forms and you don?t accept the payment? I asked, incredulously. ?That?s correct.? - ?So now I have to go to the bank??- ?And then come back here?, she explained with a smile.

In my usual gringo mode, I would have been steaming by now. But, once I got off the nightmarish San Diego Freeway and across the border, I had determined to let nothing upset me. I needed to change some currency anyway, so almost amused now I went off to BANAMEX, some several blocks away, took a number, paid 166 pesos and returned to SEMARNAP with a receipt, where I waited for the Srta. to get the Liciensado in charge to sign off on the forms and present me with my license.

?Thank you,? I said, ?and do you have any brochures with the regulations, limits and such?? ?They?re on the back of your license?, she said. And so they are, in microscopic print.

Being a guest in another sovereign state, it was definitely not my place to make comments regarding efficiency. As I reflected on the process, it occurred to me that all of this might have a purpose. What, you may ask? Well Mexican Gov?t employees don?t make very much money and since no one had even hinted at a mordida, there are probably few perks either (in this particular branch). One perk might perhaps be a bit of amusement to lighten the day. What fun it must be to teach dumbfounded gringos to dance in circles. What expressions on their faces! And the short ones in Hawaiian shirts, how red they get! The whole process had taken about 4 hours and with the right attitude, had been an adventure in itself.

Natalie Ann - 5-21-2005 at 07:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Oso
And the short ones in Hawaiian shirts, how red they get!


:wow::yes::lol:

Thank you, Senor Oso, for that delightful tale!

Bruce R Leech - 5-21-2005 at 07:24 PM

the problem is that in Mexico no bureaucrat can be trusted with even a few pesos.:lol:

bajalera - 5-21-2005 at 08:33 PM

That's a good one, Oso! Thanks . . .

Oso...

Mexray - 5-21-2005 at 10:24 PM

A couple of years ago, I too, tried the 'dance' in Ensenada...

Started at the Port Capt's office...was directed to 'Secretaria de Pesca' at some mid-town address...they had of course moved from there some months/years before! A kind soul nearby directed be to their 'new' office, back down near the waterfront. When I finally found someone to help me, I was also told that they had no forms, and I would have to go fetch them as you did...

Well, having invested a couple of hours at that point, I said to hell with it, and boogied on down the road to Mulege! I really don't do all that much fishing, but I had decided to try and be 'legal'. After that run-a-round, I just gave up and decided to go 'barefoot' on that trip.

It's really a shame, as the Mexican Govt. could probably earn far more pesos for the treasury if they only took a look at what they are doing to scare away 'customers'...They could easily adopt a system like the State of Calif uses here above the border that is so easy and available for anyone needing a license! It always amazes me how such a large county like Mexico, in this day and time can still operate with it's multitude of 'offical' power-centers that operate like they are still in the 1800's! Go figure, cell phones, internet, Sat TV, but one still gets the 'cha-cha dance' when you deal with the government!

bajajudy - 5-22-2005 at 06:32 AM

Great Story!

I know that there have been a lot of posts about fishing licenses in San Lucas but I have to tell you that it is a piece of cake to get one. You walk in, fill our the form and pay the guy. End of story.

[Edited on 5-22-2005 by bajajudy]

mrchuck - 5-22-2005 at 07:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajajudy


I know that there have been a lot of posts about fishing licenses in San Lucas but I have to tell you that it is a piece of cake to get one. You walk in, fill our the form and pay the guy. End of story.

Judy, you are "WRONG"!!!

1- you MUST go buy your forms at a paper store FIRST before you go upstairs to the PESCA office. This paper store is NOT close by.
2- Then you go to the PESCA office and get your forms filled out by the PESCA OFFICER. BUT YOU CANNOT PAY HERE!!
3- You must now go to the STATE GOVERNMENT"S office over by the 7 Crowns hotel, which is over a mile away, and with no close parking! Here, you pay the cashier, get your forms stamped paid.
4- Now you must return back to the Pesca office, find a place to park, go upstairs again, and sit down and the Pesca Officer will complete now, and only now, the rest of the paperwork and give you your copies of the individual fishing license, and boat license for fishing.

This is NOT and easy process, and I really doubt you that you have really gone and got one.
I suspect you are just "mouthing off" something that you haven't personally done.
And this exact procedure has been in place for several years now.
Saludos,,,,mc

[Edited on 5-22-2005 by bajajudy]

OSO

Baja Bernie - 5-22-2005 at 08:24 AM

Thank you so much for showing the folks that when I say someone is a good storyteller I also mean they can really sling ink.

Please continue to amuse and inform us.

Eli - 5-22-2005 at 09:58 AM

Thanks Oso, you really do know how to put togeather some fun reading, hope to encounter more of your stuff here soon.

Also, most pertanit to life in Baja and all of Mexico, good way to let new comers be aware, so they don't get all frustrated with a system that is not likly to change anytime in the new future, along with you outstanding scence of humor, ah yes, nicely done in deed.

I have gotten so use to this system in dealing with government, I take for granted the trip to a papeleria that sells legal forms and the bank, been doing it for years to pay my taxes, immigration, whatever enter reaction with goverment, I would assume this would be the procedure.

Immigration and other Government Offices

Tucker - 5-22-2005 at 10:10 AM

that take in money require the "form five" receipt document. For folks who use these services regularly it might be best to buy at least a years supply. It saves one trip to the government office.

Santiago - 5-23-2005 at 06:24 AM

Thanks for that reprise from the Amigos board - I remember reading it then and making sure I got my licenses/permits before going down - but then I don't have good stories to tell like you!

bajajudy - 5-23-2005 at 06:54 AM

Sorry Mr Chuck but I certainly have gone and gotten one although it has been a couple of year. It was certainly an easy process then. That reminds me, I better go get a new fishing license as mine has run out.
I am not in the habit of mouthing off. so relax por favor

why bother with them?

yankeeirishman - 5-23-2005 at 09:07 AM

I do all of my legal needs, on line. I can have my fishing license, boat, whatever.....BEFORE I enter Mexico. Here...go to the site I deal with:
http://www.bajabound.com/before/fishing.asp?r=mexonline