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jrbaja
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The Dieing Sea of Cortez
"They caught over 100 dorado one day and went back out the next morning and doubled the count. Mike and a buddy caught in excess of 40 dorado one
day."
Those american fishermen must be really hungry!
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4baja
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Location: morro bay ca
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tho i go with mexican regulations to the T with lisences , permits and fish counts i believe that most mexican fisherman do not. i have rarely ever
seen pangas comeing back with only theres and the passengers limits of fish unless it was a slow day. i believe it is the responsibility of the
charter or captain to tell the fisherman the limits of fish as it is there country and livelyhood. i know that they want to keep the fisherman happy
and let them keep fishing and keep as much fish as they can but sooner or later they will have to face the music. we as US citisens are not whiping
out the fish in the cortez, it is the lack of mexican regulation enforcement and policys that will eventually kill the cortez.
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jrbaja
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So what you are saying is?
Until Mexico can turn half of it's citizens into some sort of police, harbor patrol, fish and game wardens, etc. you feel it's ok to continue to rape
the Sea of Cortez for no particular reason other than P-nche fish reports?
I think perhaps looking a little deeper into the problem and perhaps at least thinking about something besides our own pleasure would be a part of
the solution.
Rather than waiting until we are arrested or ticketed for being uh, well, uncaring gringos?
Wont the Sea of Cortez be fun when you can't go in or out of a harbor without being checked by the police? Sound familiar?
Many of the Mexicans are taking things into their own hands. And they are serious about it!
And, they are teaching everyone about solutions if it isn't to late. I am trying as well.
One of the solutions is for everyone, including gringos, to do whatever they can to help solve this problem. This includes only catching what you
are going to eat, not spilling gas/oil into the water, throwing your budweiser plastic into the water (the most common trash found along the beaches
in southern Baja) and using your heads.
Every little bit helps!
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4baja
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i am allway checked by fish and game when i come into the harbor up here and i dodnt have a problem with that anywere as i now that i am clean. i
dont have a problem with the millitary check points because i have notheing to hide. and i dont have a problem with a panga guid telling me that its
time to start fish and releasing fish as we have our limits. we all have to do our part in preserving the cortez and by making sure that you have all
the permites required on your boat(tho alot of the mexican fisherman will tell you that you dont need them because there is no enforcemeant) will help
in the fight to protect it.
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jrbaja
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All the permits
sort of goes without saying, especially in Mexican waters.
Common sense and the education of others lacking in that department is what it's all about.
And it sounds like you are doing the right thing. Personally though, I would rather not have to deal with being checked on a regular basis. Makes
me feel like I have done something wrong!
Not because I am hiding anything, but because it's a pain in the arse.
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jrbaja
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It is all a problem!
The ones that we can personally deal with is our own actions and using common sense rather than pointing fingers like the u.s.media does when
referring to Mexico and any other countries.
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jrbaja
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Not according to some.
A sea teeming with greed
By Tom Knudson
Sacramento Bee Staff Writer
Forty-five miles east of Cabo San Lucas, the Pacific Ocean takes a hard left turn and angles northwest, forming a long, wide tongue of salt water that
nearly reaches the U.S. border.
This Mexican sea, known as the Sea of Cortez on some maps and the Gulf of California on others, is no ordinary appendage on the world's largest body
of water. It is a stand-alone treasure, one of the most fabled marine realms in the world.
Sheltered by the long, narrow Baja Peninsula and nourished by great billowing clouds of plankton, the sea is one of the most productive and diverse
marine nurseries on Earth. It is a womb for the Pacific. More than 900 species of fish and marine mammals live here, a dazzling display that rivals
nature's showiest cathedrals, tropical rain forests.
Now for the bad news: If major steps aren't taken soon, you can kiss it all goodbye. This great amniotic sea, this world showcase of marine life is
being destroyed.
The problem is basic. It is overfishing, aided by greed, corruption, poverty and lawlessness. This is 1995, but the Gulf of California is a frontier
sea where marine life is slaughtered for markets in the United States and Asia, for foreign exchange and sometimes for little more than gas money.
"It's being devastated," said Donald Thomson, director of the marine sciences program at the University of Arizona, who has worked in the gulf since
the 1960s. "It's being grossly overfished. There is no management that I can tell. None."
Top officials of Mexico's federal fishing agency, PESCA, declined to be interviewed for this series of articles. But in a written response to The Bee,
they said the sea is healthy and that overfishing, corruption and illegal fishing do not pose problems.
"We can't generalize the existence of this problem (overfishing) to the Gulf of California," the statement said.
This much is certain: The Gulf of California is Mexico's sea. But what happens here is a regional concern.
The disappearance
The Sea of Cortez is more than just a dazzling spectacle of nature. It is a Pacific Caribbean for the western United States. It is California's
Riviera, Arizona's secret sea, a saltwater oasis for tourists, retirees and sport-fishing enthusiasts from around the world.
But as the fish disappear, so do tourists -- the potential seed stock for the only industry large enough to wean the region off excessive
exploitation.
Ten years ago, the town of Loreto on the Baja Peninsula was a vacation mecca. Today, it feels more like a ghost town. At Alfredo's Sportfishing,
business has dropped more than 50 percent in five years.
"It's a clear connection," said owner Alfredo Ramirez. "If there are no fish, there are no fishermen. And no business."
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The carcass of a marlin lies discarded on a boat ramp in Cabo San Lucas after the sport fish was filleted.
Sacramento Bee/Jos? Luis Villegas
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Gone are the huge navies of game fish that fed so savagely they forced schools of bait fish to burst out of the water -- volcanoes of fish erupting
into the air. Gone are the immense, slow-moving cumulus clouds of turtles and manta rays, the thick, spiraling columns of hammerhead and thresher
sharks, the clams thick as cobblestones on the beach. Gone, too, is the future for many families who make their living from the sea.
But this sea will not die without a fight. Devastation, ironically, may be opening the door to recovery. Today, people across the region are starting
to speak out, calling for dramatic changes to save it.
A call to arms
There's nothing official about this movement. Its constituents, for the most part, have no conservation pedigrees. They are ordinary Mexicans and
Americans, a mix of resort owners, business people and fishermen, too. They have grand dreams -- for underwater Yellowstone National Parks, fewer
nets, less corruption, better law enforcement.
But mostly they want a healthy sea like the one Manuel Madinabeitia knew when he was young.
"We caught everything then, all kinds of fish," said Madinabeitia, 79, a member of John Steinbeck's famous Sea of Cortez expedition in 1940. "And now
there is nothing."
"It is a disaster," he said earlier this year, not long before he died. "I am ashamed to discuss it."
"By all accounts, the entire gulf is being utterly devastated by overfishing," said Paul Dayton, a professor of marine ecology at the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, one of the premier marine science centers in the world.
And there's something else: This is no isolated disaster. It is one spore in a larger pox, the plundering of oceans worldwide.
"About 70 percent of the world's marine fish stocks are fully to heavily exploited, overexploited, depleted or slowly recovering (from exploitation),"
the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said this year. "This situation is globally non-sustainable and major ecological and economic damage is
already visible."
The view from the water
But the global fishing crisis, like global warming, is abstract and shrouded in jargon. There is a way to cut through the clutter, though. Take a trip
to the Sea of Cortez.
Catch a ride on a shrimp trawler, the sea's most destructive fishing machine. Watch the big nets scoop up tons of unwanted species, such as sea
horses, starfish, manta rays and enormous quantities of baby fish. Help the crew sort out the shrimp and heave the excess overboard -- dead.
For every pound of shrimp caught in the Sea of Cortez, nearly 10 pounds of other marine life dies -- one of the highest ratios in the world, according
to a 1994 U.N. scientific report.
Listen to Antonio Resendez, a federal marine biologist, talk about the sickness at the heart of this sea: corruption. He says government fishing
inspectors can be paid off for $20.
"It happens all the time," he said. "Money talks."
Much of the damage in the Sea of Cortez has occurred over the past 20 years. There's no single culprit. There are thousands -- a remarkable fishing
armada.
It includes shrimp boats, sardine boats, squid boats, tuna boats and countless Mexican "panga" boats, small open vessels. There are nets of nearly
every size and shape. Foreign boats work here, too. And another kind of fishing also contributes to the problem -- American sport fishing.
So far, no one has made an official damage assessment. Scientific monitoring is scarce. Many species, though, are known to have suffered sharp
declines, including tuna, sea bass, grouper, yellowtail, shark, marlin, scallops, lobster, snapper, shrimp, halibut, sardines -- the list goes on and
on.
Two species -- the totoaba, a large fish that resembles white sea bass, and the Gulf of California harbor porpoise, commonly called the vaquita -- are
considered endangered by the United States and Mexico. The good-eating totoaba has been fished out. The vaquita dies on the sidelines -- caught
inadvertently in nets. It is one of the rarest marine mammals on Earth.
Although overfishing is widely acknowledged by fishermen, scientists and others to be a serious problem, Mexico's PESCA officials in Mexico City put
the blame elsewhere -- on Mother Nature. In their written statement, they said "changes in the weather," ocean currents and natural cycles are
responsible for declines in some species.
They also blamed the United States for diverting water out of the Colorado River, upsetting the ecological balance at the river's natural outlet, in
the northern Sea of Cortez.
But the biggest problem, most people say, isn't American's thirst for water. It's our hunger for seafood.
A killing hunger
Most fishing is driven by a simple force: money. Mexico's fishermen don't fish for fun. They fish because someone buys their catch. Asia is a large
buyer of Mexico seafood. But the biggest is the United States, especially California.
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Mexican shark fins are a delicacy in Asian cuisine. In San Francisco's Chinatown, shark fins used for soup sell for $275 per pound. A bowl of
shark-fin soup costs up to $30.
Sacramento Bee/Erhardt E. Krause
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In San Francisco's Chinatown, dried shark fins used for soup sell for up to $275 a pound. A bowl of shark fin soup costs up to $30. Grocery stores
across the state sell shark meat for $5 to $6 a pound. Mexico shrimp costs $7 to $16 a pound.
The world is not just losing the treasures of the Sea of Cortez. It is eating them.
Fishing is supposed to be done conservatively to protect stocks. But in poverty-stricken Mexico, another rule applies: If you will buy it, they will
kill it. They will liquidate their sea.
Frank Hester, a retired U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service biologist, has studied the trends.
"If you look at U.S. customs statistics for vaqueta, a deep-water cabrilla (grouper), Mexico was shipping 4 or 5 million pounds a year just through
Dallas, for several years," said Hester, who lives on the Sea of Cortez.
"The same thing happened with totoaba in the 1960s," he said. "Supermarkets in San Diego would have specials on totoaba, which is a delicious fish. It
didn't take too long to suppress that resource.
"It's very typical of all marine fisheries that are more or less unregulated, he said. "I don't think there's any question that they've overfished
most of the resources."
Across the region, anger is growing. And much of it is aimed in a single direction: at the federal government in Mexico City.
"We've been sold out," said Ramirez in Loreto. "We've literally been sold out by the government. They keep selling fishing permits. They are killing
us."
An illusion of good health
Oddly enough, the sea's troubles are easily missed.
It is a huge body of water, 700 miles long, 60 to 150 miles wide, nearly twice the size of Lake Superior, more than 300 times larger than Lake Tahoe.
It's a visual delight, silver at dawn, sapphire at mid-day and amber toward evening. Something that extraordinary can hide a lot of problems.
The land yields secrets slowly, too. The 20th century has been slow arriving here. In many areas, there are no phones, gas stations or motels. Roads
are bad, sometimes impassable. And the Sonoran Desert, which surrounds the sea, is harsh terrain, even for snakes and lizards.
Tourists can be fooled. The sandy beaches and luxury hotels radiate enchantment, not trouble. And there are still fish in the sea -- another powerful
illusion. But they are remnants, traces of the silver masses that swarmed here a generation ago.
In Mexico, overfishing draws scant attention, masked by more high-profile dramas, such as assassinations, a financial crisis, political scandals, a
rebel uprising and continuing drug violence.
Still, there are clues. Bone-ridden beaches. Rusting fishing boats. Stacks of dried shark fins. Mountains of clam and scallop shells. And old, faded
pictures of trophy fish -- black sea bass that weighed several hundred pounds, marlin the size of small buffalo. Nobody catches giants like that
anymore.
But the surest sentinels are the people themselves.
"Here the ocean was full of fish, like a smorgasbord," said Manuel Palacio, 65, a fisherman in Puerto Pe?asco on the Sonora coast. "Now there's
nothing. The gulf is exhausted."
His assessment is not unusual. It is, in fact, a kind of refrain one hears widely on the sea today:
"When I was 9 years old, there were turtles all over this bay," said Mario Coppola, owner of Los Arcos, a La Paz hotel. "They would sparkle like
little shining glass mirrors, all over. Today, you see one where you used to see 150."
"Tuna was the fish you caught when nothing else was biting," said Wayne Seipman, 60, owner of Hotel Bah?a Los Frailles. "Today, it's a prize."
"We haven't seen a big manta ray in years," said Lisa Jayne, 36, owner of Casas de Cortez, near the tip of the Baja Peninsula. "Four years ago was the
last time I saw one and it was being gaffed and clubbed to death."
"There used to be hammerhead sharks all over the place," said Bob Butler, owner of a sport-fishing business in La Paz. "Now you're lucky if you see
one all year. People are killing the sharks off, right and left. And that's really sad."
"Talk to anyone who's been here more than 15 years and they will tell you it's going fast," said Niki Rodr?guez, whose family owns Las Cruces, one of
the most prestigious resorts on the peninsula, south of La Paz. "Believe me, fishing is not going to be an option soon. A lot of people don't realize
it. But if things continue, it will be a fact."
Ecological bankruptcy
The damage doesn't stop at the water's edge. In some places, seabirds are fading from the sky, too, apparently because there's not enough fish to eat.
And that is a special concern.
"They are a marine Dow Jones industrials," said Bob Rubin, a professor of marine biology at Santa Rosa Junior College and a veteran gulf scientist.
"They give you an indication of the health of the economy."
This summer, Rubin saw signs of ecological bankruptcy.
"I'm stunned by the absence of seabirds," he said. "It troubles me. It suggests there is something wrong."
Oceans, of course, are resilient. They can and do bounce back. But there may be limits to their recuperative ability. And the loss of so many things
so quickly has scientists worried.
"It's a nibbling away of the marine environment," said Dayton, the Scripps professor. "One bite at a time might not hurt. But eventually you have to
draw the line. Or you're going to have a wasteland."
Like many, Rubin traces the sea's woes to rapid advances in fishing prowess. Just a half-century ago, fishing in the gulf was an ancient ritual done
with hand lines, wooden dories and oars.
But gradually, ritual gave way to reality -- inboard and outboard motors, big commercial boats and nylon nets. Gradually, a coastal backwater became a
fishing factory.
"Everything is muy grande, much bigger," said Carmelo Olivarria, a 61-year-old shrimp fisherman on the Sonora Coast. "Bigger nets, bigger boats,
bigger wood used in fishing."
The official figures
Mexico's federal fishing report, Anuario Estadistico de Pesca, unintentionally helps tell the story. It shows huge jumps in the country's annual fish
harvest, nearly half of which is estimated to come from the Sea of Cortez. In 1950, 77,000 tons; 1960, 142,000 tons; 1970, 254,000 tons; 1980, 1.06
million tons. The high-water mark came in 1981, 1.36 million tons. Since then, catches have dropped slightly but continue to far outpace historic
levels -- mirroring a worldwide trend.
The Sea of Cortez reflects another worrying global trend. Catches aren't just shrinking. They're changing. The good-eating fish are disappearing. In
New England, cod are so scarce that fishermen now catch skate, dogfish and other species despised not long ago.
As savory sea bass and grouper disappear in the Sea of Cortez, fishermen turn to other things, including gaunt, boney triggerfish.
"The reason there are so many triggerfish is there are no predators," said Rodr?guez, who manages his family's Las Cruces resort. "The big grouper
that used to inhale triggerfish are not there anymore. The sharks that used to rip through the schools of triggerfish, I've seen one shark this year."
It's ironic. The harder fishermen fish, the less there is to catch. And what's left gets smaller and smaller.
In Newfoundland, fishermen used to pull 50-pound cod out of the sea. Not anymore. In 1992, Canada closed the fishery because cod were so small that
fishermen couldn't make money catching them.
Where is the future?
That, too, is happening in the Sea of Cortez. But with one important difference: Here, they continue to fish. And it's not just fish that are
disappearing anymore. The future is, too.
"The philosophy down here is you get everything you can today because it may be gone tomorrow," said Roy Mahoff, 52, owner of a sea kayak company near
Muleg?. "There's no consciousness about stuff disappearing. It's like there is no future. There is only here and now."
This scale of damage would never have been possible a half-century ago. A fisherman with a hand line caught a few dozen dozen fish a day. Today, a
fisherman with a gill net can catch thousands. But nets also are turning a world class marine showcase into an appalling spectacle of waste and
destruction.
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Gill nets have become a lethal weapon in the Sea of Cortez. A sea lion is slowly strangled by a piece of monofilament netting.
Sacramento Bee/Erhardt E. Krause
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Gill nets are among the most deadly. The long strands of nylon mesh work like spiderwebs. They snare whatever swims into them. Terry Kennedy saw one
up close in the Sea of Cortez this year.
"I was a little shocked because of the amount of sea lions in the area," said Kennedy, a former Navy diver from Palo Alto. "It seemed pretty dangerous
to have a net that close.
"So when I dove down, I wasn't surprised to find a sea lion tangled in it. He couldn't have been dead for more than an hour. His eyes weren't even
glazed over. His one flipper was in the net and his head, too. It looked like he ran into it and was trying to pull himself loose.
"There were a couple of manta rays, too. One was maybe 6 feet across, the other slightly smaller. Both dead. And a sting ray, still alive, but close
to dying. I got him loose. He finally picked up a little speed and shuffled off."
Only one net is more harmful -- the big, cone-shaped shrimp trawling nets. Even shrimp fishermen fear them. This spring, Ramiro Renteria, captain of
the Mexican shrimp boat Norliz, looked with sadness as a great mound of sea life -- much of it young or pregnant -- slowly died on the deck of his
boat.
"We should not be fishing now," he said. "It is real clear to me: How can these animals reproduce if we keep killing them?"
Still, they fish. And sometimes, it is government subsidies that keep them working. Three years ago, Mike McGettigan, head of one of the most
prominent environmental groups in the Sea of Cortez, got an up-close look at how the system works. Near Muleg?, he pulled his boat alongside a shrimp
trawler. The fishing was very poor, but the crew kept trawling.
"We asked them, 'How do you justify fishing?'" said McGettigan, who founded Sea Watch with a mission to protect the sea. "And they said, 'We get paid
for every day we're here.' It was totally government-controlled. There was no logic whatsoever, other than to put the hours in."
Subsidized destruction
Mexico doesn't disclose the size of its fishing subsidies, but they are believed to be less common today. Worldwide, however, subsidies total about
$54 billion a year and are a big reason why oceans are in danger.
"Subsidies play a very important role," said David Doulman, a fisheries specialist with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. "They
enable fleet sizes to grow when, under normal economic circumstances, they wouldn't. It can have a major impact on the resource."
One of the most ruthless examples of fishing waste is "shark-finning." That's what it is called when fishermen catch sharks, slice the fins off and
throw them back alive. Without fins, the creatures slowly sink and drown.
"It turns your stomach," said John Guess, owner of a charter boat in La Paz. "The shark fin market is out of control."
Mexico does have laws to prevent excessive fishing. But they are rarely enforced. And often people break them.
"There is absolutely no regulation," said McGettigan, Sea Watch founder. "Zero. None. It's up to anybody's whim what they want to do and when they
want to do it."
Official corruption
But it's not just a lawless sea. It's a corrupt one, too. Even federal fishing inspector Ramon Cu?llar acknowledged that inspectors take money -- or
bribes -- from fishermen.
Some inspectors "do it because they are addicted to it, others because they don't get paid and others because they need to provide better service,"
said Cu?llar, an inspector in Loreto for PESCA, Mexico's federal fishing agency.
Cu?llar earns the equivalent of $1.20 an hour, less than half the wage of an average factory worker in Mexico, and doesn't even have a boat. He said
he takes modest payments himself to buy gas for his pickup truck.
"There's no support from the federal government," he said. "We don't have a good patrol. We don't have gasoline sometimes. PESCA is a hard way to make
a living."
But the biggest problem is in Mexico City, many say, where fishing permits are sold like fast-food franchises, often for many thousands of dollars.
"PESCA is the most corrupt federal agency in Mexico, behind only the federal police," said Mario Coppola, owner of the La Paz hotel and a prominent
figure in the powerful Coppola family in Baja California Sur. "And that's only because there is more money in drugs than fish. I don't say it out of
frustration or anger. I live here. I know it. It is reality."
But in Mexico City, top federal fisheries officials flatly denied corruption is a problem. "This office hasn't received any complaints" about
corruption in the Sea of Cortez, PESCA said in its written statement to The Bee.
But on the sea itself, one hears many complaints.
One alleged incident occurred this spring in the northern gulf where shrimp season ends April 15 -- to give shrimp a chance to breed. But on April 16,
many boats were still fishing.
"The inspectors are paid to look the other way," said one veteran fisherman. "Because somebody has been paid, certain companies keep fishing. That's
what bothers me most. It's not right."
The human cost is growing, too, especially for Mexicans who have traditionally lived off the sea.
In Puerto Pe?asco, where shrimp catches have dropped 40 percent to 50 percent since the mid-1980s, fishermen are calling for change. They don't want
more fishing. They want less, so shrimp and other species can rebuild.
"It would be worth the hurt in the pocketbook," said Francisco Ramirez, a deckhand on the Norliz. "If the situation isn't fixed, there isn't going to
be any fish for anybody."
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jrbaja
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I feel it is our responsibility
as humans to do whatever we can to help protect this Sea and the planet. Only as users. That means, catch less fish, pick up other peoples trash, be
aware and set a good example, even if it's in front of the locals. If you are doing good, they will see it as doing good. Period. No offense will be
taken and you are teaching something good.
You will then have a feeling of success. Keep doing it.
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jrbaja
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And my point being,
Sometimes, the excesses are more serious. A new report, funded in part by the World Wildlife Fund, says American sport fishermen, using rebuilt
"shrimp or sardine boats or other kinds of large trawlers," are illegally catching commercial quantities of fish in the Sea of Cortez and hauling them
to the United States for sale.
"Hard-core passengers fish all the light hours in a day," the report says. "The lack of enforcement and the absence of inspectors" allows them to
catch as much as they want.
"They come down with U-Hauls and ice chests and fill them up with fillets," said Velarde, the Mexico City professor. "We call them compulsive
fishermen. They fish from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. A whale could jump in front of them and they don't care."
'No double standard'
One of the most unusual cases of poaching occurred in July in the waters around the Ambar III, floating headquarters of Sea Watch, a prominent
environmental group in the Sea of Cortez.
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Mike McGettigan, founder of Sea Watch, a Sea of Cortez conservation group, is caught illegally spear-gunning with scuba gear.
Sacramento Bee/Erhardt E. Krause
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Formed by Mike McGettigan in 1993, Sea Watch has received widespread attention and contributions from many prominent Americans, such as former Arizona
Sen. Barry Goldwater and San Francisco 49ers coach George Seifert. The group's mission is printed plainly on its letterhead: "Dedicated to a healthy
Sea of Cortez."
McGettigan, based in Portland, Ore., is the closest thing to Jacques Cousteau one will find on the Sea of Cortez -- someone who has worked long and
hard to protect the sea.
But this summer, on the group's annual environmental tour, McGettigan, too, was spear-gunning fish, using scuba gear, a federal crime.
"There is no sport to diving with scuba gear to shoot fish," said Roy Mahoff, who witnessed the incident. "It's like giving someone a .30-06 to go
hunting in a zoo."
Asked about it later, McGettigan was apologetic.
"He's totally right. And I'm totally wrong," McGettigan said. "For 20 years, we could go and shoot a fish we were going to eat without thinking much
about whether we used tanks or not.
"But the old ways have to go. You can't have a double standard."
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jrbaja
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That would be hard to say
if you are coming from where I am coming from. Which is the Berkshires in Western Mass. My Dad wrote a story in the late 40's about how the folks
from upstate New York had come up and cleaned out all the streams of the native brook trout. Well, they didn't get all of em but these were the days
before planting.
This was in the 40's.
Now you may consider inland waterways an entirely different thing but I most assuredly don't.
Back then, there wasn't near the number of people running around. There are lakes and streams everywhere there and it is famous for freshwater
fishin. And, it got fished out.
Now I see this planet as pretty small and since the internet, even smaller. This means that it's not just Western Outdoor News promoting the fishing
down here but it is now in cyberspace for the world to see.
And it shows. People are flabbergasted at the changes down south in just the last couple years. And it's getting busier and more popular by the
second.
My feelings on this are, the more people that are educated now, about the POTENTIAL outcome of these masses and their boats (this is where we
disagree, thus the caps).
5ooo homes to be built in Nopolo? How many of them do you think will own boats.
Houses going in as fast as we built Laguna Niguel down south. They all have boats.
And they all spill gas, and they all catch fish, and they probably think they all don't make a difference.
But, they most certainly do and the sooner they are educated to at least try and conserve and beware of the POTENTIAL problems that are sure to
happen if this CONTINUES the way it is going. Count on it.
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fishinrich
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soap box
That's some soap box your standing on jr, don't fall off and hurt yourself. fishin rich
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jrbaja
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Ignore the problem Rich
It's not your country.
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jrbaja
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Registered: 2-2-2003
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Now, this is funny!
"(nets strung across streams,trot lines,dynamite etc than rod and reel")
That statement reminds me of a certain anon. post regarding adventurers in Baja.
So obviously what I say isn't making any sense to you.
I am just saying this here, on my soap box podium, because I think I am important. Yah, that's it!
I'm sorry!
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
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That doesn't surprise me in so cal nowadays.
The mountains in Massachusetts in those days were an entirely different story. For one thing, even when I was growing up there, we caught the
brookies. On worms or the flys that my Dad or one of my neighbors tied themselves. They were purists and appreciated nature to the fullest. And it
wasn't california.
Have you ever gone and caught Brookies for breakfast and had pancakes with fresh picked blueberries to go with it? That's Massachusetts.
It was the Berkshires. And in the 40's it was pretty wild. In fact, it still is.
But, I'd be surprised to catch a native trout nowadays.
I like fishing. I like boating. I have equipment and use it fairly regularly. I am not a tree hugger or whiner with nothing better to do.
And in fact I have been spending a lot more time trying to get the mountains clean and ready for the boom that is happening in Baja rather than even
thinking about the Sea of Cortez.
But, everytime I go to my favorite remote beaches, there is more trash. And it's coming off gringo boats as well as the Mexicans.
I tell the locals the same thing. Just try to be conscious of the environment when you are using it. If it continues to be abused, trashed,
overfished for whatever reasons, it will really be bad for the entire planet.
Please, just think about what I have to say and try and do more than your part to educate and practise conservation.
Ain't no thing really. And, it works!
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
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Enforcement of Rules
Perhaps if the people were a little more aware of the unhealthy environment they are creating due to greed, enforcement wouldn't be so necessary for
the ones that just don't get it!
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
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Me too
but, the key is education. The more people that are aware of the dangers of the continued rape of the resources, the less people are going to turn
their heads when they see it happening.
And this is going on more and more. 1st, it was Laguna San Ignacio. Now, the people are organized and doing something about it there.
Then, Bahia Magdalena and then, it was Cabo Pulmo which has also been a major success. Now, a reserve in Loreto.
And, not only are these people becoming educated about the dangers and solutions, they are spending a lot of time teaching everyone else. Education!
All the Mexican schools are teaching about it, a good portion of the Mexican children are going into fields dealing with it, and the people are
becoming aware.
Faster than the americans so it would seem. They got a much later start at cleaning up their country, but from what I am seeing, they are much
faster, serious, and better at it than the u.s. was.
Otherwise, this discussion wouldn't have lasted this long. They are serious about it. And, there's going to be more and more of them patroling.
In our discussions in La Paz and elsewhere, most everyone is aware of the tourism $$. And they are aware that tourists don't want to see trash.
They are also aware that if there are no more fish, there are no more jobs for the locals or tourism related to that aspect of Baja.
These people are not stupid. They are just getting a later start than the u.s..
Once they are aware of all aspects, the overfishing will stop.
Unless of course, you "know" somebody!
The kids in school want Baja to stay the same environmentally. These are the guys that will be in charge of the country some day. I am pretty
impressed with their knowledge and ideas for the future of their country.
We should help in any way we can. Maybe then our grandchildren can hook into one o them wahoos.
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Bedman
Senior Nomad
Posts: 523
Registered: 9-4-2002
Location: Orange County, CA.
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Not all (or even a miniscule portion) of the blame rests on Rod and Reel
I have fished Oceans, Seas, Lakes, Rivers, Streams, Ponds and Puddles. I have purchased licenses in 25+ states and several countries (Mexicao, Canada,
Ireland, New Zealand and Europe. In almost every location I have seen commercial fishermen (read "Trawlers, Gill netters, Purse seiners and Long
Liners") abuse their waters and the waters of foreign (to them) nations. The rod and reel sport fisherman is NOT the problem. I'm not saying that
there are not those that abuse the limits, just that they are not the Major problem.
A man I respect and admire used to write for W.O.N. News. Gene Kira is an American Sportfisherman and I'm proud to have met him a few brief times. His
web site and his dedication and expose's on the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean are to be commended. Here follows a few of his words. Read them
and understand What the Mexican goverment fails to see.
GUILLERMO ALVAREZ:
MEXICO'S LONE RANGER
OF MARINE CONSERVATION
By Gene Kira, February 28, 2004, as orginally published in Western Outdoor News
Fifty years ago, Guillermo Alvarez was an eight-year-old boy, swimming and diving daily in the bay near his familyrs beach front restaurant in
Acapulco, which was at that time a modest Mexican town with a population of about 25,000.
It was an age of technological innocence--less than ten years after the end of World War II--when it was widely believed that science, if not yet
quite perfected, was certainly well within reach of solving the worldrs problems.
Half a century later, of course, those problems and many new ones besides are still with us, but in 1954 the young Guillermo could certainly have been
justified in believing that the brilliance and abundance of sea life that he saw every day in the crystal waters of Acapulco Bay--would last forever.
Against his fatherrs wishes, Guillermo decided not to enter the family businesses, but to become a scientist, a student of marine technology and
production who would provide seafood not just for a single restaurant, but for the entire world.
He studied chemical engineering at the prestigious Instituto Technologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, and then marine science and food
technology through an international program developed by the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and the Interamerican Development Bank.
In 1968, he published his thesis at Guaymas, a pioneering study of plankton bloom cycles in the Sea of Cortez, and he began a career that would lead
to further studies, and industry and government assignments, in Holland, Spain, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the United States, and eventually, to
ownership of his own commercial fishing fleet in Baja California.
But ironically, in the end, Alvarez long career led him not to the production of limitless food from the sea, but into a desperate struggle to save
what is left of it, and to repair the damage that he and his former colleagues in the commercial fishing industry have wreaked upon the worldrs
oceans.
Ive made a tremendous number of mistakes! Alvarez declared at his home in La Paz. I was the one who brought drift gill nets to Baja California!
Indeed, that personally painful episode in Alvarez life, perhaps more than any other, serves to explain the dedication and drive that have made him
today Mexicors most credible and effective marine conservation lobbyist, unique in his technical expertise, high-level connections--and lately--in his
emerging influence on federal policy.
After training in a United Nations program in Europe, Alvarez returned to Baja California in 1971 and built not only the San Carlos tuna and sardine
cannery at Magdalena Bay, but in the 1980s, a personal fleet of five highly-efficient prototype boats, designed to trawl for shrimp and then switch
gear and fish with gill nets.
This concept, developed under a program funded by the U.S. government, worked beautifully, as Alvarez multipurpose boats took easy profits on Sea of
Cortez shrimp during the lucrative first six weeks of each season, and then moved to the Pacific Ocean to gill net massive catches of white seabass
and yellowtail between Ensenada and Magdalena Bay.
But disaster struck almost immediately, as the white seabass and yellowtail were quickly wiped out by combined fleets totaling only 22 boats.
We depleted the fish, Alvarez says ruefully. And we also flooded the market, so the price went down. We were being turned away at San Pedro.
We realized within five years that it was a huge mistake. We saw the biggest drop in white seabass. It was impressive, criminal.
On my first trip in 1982, we made a $30,000 cash profit on white seabass. But by 1986, we knew we had blown it. By 1988, we stopped fishing for white
seabass and yellowtail. There werent enough left, even with sonar and satellite imaging.
Facing financial disaster, Alvarez attempted to develop alternate, sustainable fishing methods for the Ensenada fleet, but conflicts with reactionary
owners eventually led to personal harassment in the form of a false warrant issued for his arrest on trumped up real estate fraud charges, and in
1992, the sinking of two of his boats, the El Moro and Vasamar, in Ensenada, and the subsequent loss of his business.
Said Alvarez, That broke us. After that, I could not even think about Ensenada without getting emotional and angry. I could not even go near El Sauzal
without my heart pounding.
Alvarez spent the next several years licking his wounds, and doing some serious soul searching that would lead him eventually to his impassioned
mission in life: the saving of the Sea of Cortez and the immensely rich biomass contained in the unique California Current System off the Pacific
coast.
That was a period in which I looked into myself, he says. I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. A difficult period. I had a terrible
taste in my mouth. After all, my career training was to develop the marine resources of Mexico.
In 1998, Alvarez sold his home in San Diego, and he and his wife moved permanently to La Paz, where he began a full-time career as a marine
conservation lobbyist, rapidly making hundreds of contacts, and building alliances and funding for the battles to come.
Six years later, at the age of 58, Alvarez star is once again ascendant.
As a unifying Lone Ranger of Mexicors unruly and highly-fragmented conservation movement, he walks a tightrope every day, working virtually
around-the-clock by phone and email, and traveling frequently to meetings and conferences, quietly playing the role of backroom dealmaker and
statesman.
The challenge, says Alvarez, is to deal successfully with three radically disparate groups, each with an agenda that conflicts fundamentally with the
other two:
bull Dozens of highly-idealistic conservationist organizations must be encouraged to keep making noise, even if their propaganda is sometimes less
than completely credible.
bull Hundreds of desperate commercial boat owners, and thousands of subsistence ribere?o skiff fishermen, must be convinced to abandon uncontrolled
gill nets, long lines, heavy bottom trawling, and reef fish traps--all of which kill many times more bycatch than target species.
bull An entrenched government bureaucracy must be convinced to reverse half a century of all-out, scorched earth commercial fishing, in favor of a
modern, balanced approach that permits controlled, sustainable commercial fishing to coexist with ecotourism and sportfishing.
And the biggest challenge of all, says Alvarez, is to show hard-pressed politicians how to make these right decisions without getting themselves
tarred and feathered by their own electorates.
Often, this political balancing act seems like the art of the impossible, but just recently, the heretofore intransigent federal government has
begrudged some amazing concessions. To Alvarez, it seems that a true sea change is now at hand, and he is anxious to consolidate his gains and lay the
foundation for further progress before the end of President Foxrs administration in three more years.
The string of recent victories is impressive:
bull An all-important and apparently sincere government promise to eliminate drift gill nets and limit long lines in Mexican waters.
bull Approval of satellite vessel position monitoring systems to keep commercial fishing boats honest.
bull Dedication of millions of dollars per year from the sale of sportfishing licenses to marine conservation.
bull Inclusion of the Secretary of Tourism in fisheries management decisions.
bull Seats gained on the federal Nautical-Recreational and Sportfishing Commission, the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Council, the State
Fisheries Consulting Council, and a new office for tourism and conservation within the Department of Fisheries itself.
bull A greatly expanded, increasingly transparent dialogue with new fisheries chief, Ram?n Corral ?vila, after the successful ouster of his
reactionary predecessor, Jer?nimo Ramos.
Although it is difficult to measure the significance of any single individual in the Byzantine world of Mexican fisheries politics, it is patently
clear that without Alvarez dedication and skill as a lobbyist, very little of this progress could have happened; every significant victory of the past
several years has been influenced by his often unseen hand.
For example, in the fall of 2002, Alvarez was instrumental in engineering the defeat of Shark Norma 029, federal legislation designed to allow
increased bycatch of game fish under the guise of research fishing for shark. A nationwide newspaper campaign of desplegados, or paid public
announcements, followed by a public uproar on national television and threats of embarrassing street demonstrations during the international APEC
conference at Cabo San Lucas (attended by 21 heads of state), resulted in the hasty cancellation of the proposed law. Politicians were quick to take
credit for the victory, but deep in the background, it was Guillermo Alvarez--the unseen Lone Ranger--who had made the first critical phone calls,
quickly raising the seed money needed for the original desplegados, before quietly disappearing from the scene. Who was that masked man? the
department of fisheries must have asked itself.
Whence comes this Lone Rangerrs unique ability to coordinate and get positive results from camps of such seemingly insurmountable disparity? Above all
else, Alvarez tortured r?sum? gives him a balanced empathy for the many conflicting points of view that he must deal with on a daily basis. Ever the
realist, Alvarez harbors no sacred cows. He seeks politically feasible solutions that will allow equitable, sustained use by all sectors:
bull The young boy from Acapulco grieves for his countryrs lost marlin, tuna, swordfish, dorado, yellowtail, reef fish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers,
abalone, lobster, sea turtles, and all the rest. But nevertheless, he gives short shrift to groups who would eliminate commercial fishing entirely, or
who seek absolute protection for pet species. Alvarez seeks sustainable commercial fishing, not its abolishment.
bull The failed fleet owner is quick to recognize not only the commercial fishermanrs present pain, but also his past stupidities: We must develop
alternate ways to make a living. This has been a tremendous mistake. Bajars subtropical Pacific coast and Sea of Cortez are very vulnerable. We have
lots of species, but no big biomass of any given one of them. We cannot sustain a fishery here like in Alaska. If you go after any given species, you
wipe it out.
bull The internationally-trained fisheries official--who in the 1970s negotiated his governmentrs implementation of its 200-mile Exclusive Economic
Zone with rancorous U.S. boat owners--can say with authority: A completely new approach is needed. The southern part of the California Current System
should be preserved by joint programs between the U.S. and Mexico. It is important to both countries. After all these failures, we must preserve this
area, because many species come here to reproduce.
Although much progress has been made, Alvarez today feels that he has arrived at another cusp in his career. He has decided that the time is
appropriate for him to become more than a guiding referee among the various conflicting forces, and to establish a new organization--the Center for
Marine Development and Protection.
In addition to such immediate goals as the drafting of a proper shark norma, Alvarez sees several critical areas that must be addressed:
bull Progressive change to Mexicors outdated fisheries laws.
bull True enforcement of those laws.
bull Public awareness of the issues.
bull Promotion of tourism, already Mexicors second largest industry, as the ultimate means of making maximum, sustainable economic use of the marine
resource.
This Center for Marine Development and Protection, Alvarez feels, will for the first time allow him to set his own agenda, rather than act as a
facilitator for other non-government organizations. It will give him the voice he needs to bring his goals to final conclusion.
The historical moment seems to be on Alvarez side. Watershed studies, such as the 2003 Dalhousie University report showing a 90 percent decline in
major fish stocks, and a report with comparable conclusions soon to be released by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, make it clear that all fishing
nations must develop an entirely new model for how the oceans should be used to the greatest benefit.
After a patient, sometimes lonely campaign lasting many years, acceptance of Alvarez ideas is even now developing at the highest levels of the federal
government, and significant funding--that proverbial silver bullet--has begun to come in for his Center for Marine Development and Protection.
What I do today has an important meaning to me, he says. I loved the ocean in my early childhood. Then I tried to feed the world, but all of us have
an empty feeling today when we see what is happening, leaving nothing left, to catch a fish, or serve it on a plate to our families, or simply to
enjoy the beauty of marine life as we once knew it.
I would feel terrible if I would plunge into our oceans and all this beauty would be gone. I would feel terrible if all this beauty were to disappear.
Indeed, in all the world today, nobody is working harder to preserve that beauty for future generations than the young diver from the city of
Acapulcors movie star glamor days--Guillermo Alvarez--Mexicors battle-scarred Lone Ranger of marine conservation.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
DEFENDERS...OF WHAT?
By Gene Kira, March 22, 2004, as orginally published in Western Outdoor News
During the last several weeks, Ive built up a five-megabyte email folder--and a Mexico phone tab I dont even want to think about--concerning what I at
first thought to be a lot of dumb panic over a Mexican commercial longlining position taken by the U.S. conservation organization, Defenders of
Wildlife.
Defenders of Wildlife is a large non-government organization or NGO based in Washington, D.C., that busies itself by promoting all kinds of
conservation programs around the world.
You can see their slick website at www.defenders.org, where their logo has pictures of: a wolf, owl, bear, some kind of wild cat, parrot, cant tell, otter, and porpoise.
To put things in perspective, Defenders of Wildlifers annual report says that during 2002, more than 430,00 individuals and organizations donated more
than $20 million to them. Their balance sheet shows net assets of $16 million and they also announce moving into their new headquarters, a nine-story
building within several blocks of the White House. This may not be The Nature Conservancy (2002 cash contributions, $390 million), but you get the
picture.
The problem with Defenders of Wildlife first surfaced last year when it became apparent that--in conjunction with the revision of Shark Norma
029--they supported a 30-mile limit on longlines in Mexican waters, as opposed to the 50-mile limit adamantly demanded by every other involved NGO.
The crucial point is that the Sea of Cortez is more than 60 miles wide in some places. Permitting longlines to within 30 miles of the coast would
allow a deadly dagger of commercial fishing right up the middle of the Cortez to about Muleg?, and in another area south of San Felipe. A 50-mile
limit would keep longlines out entirely.
I was not pleased by the Defenders of Wildlife position, but I considered it a mild threat, since they have in the past concerned themselves mainly
with such things as selling $25 Adopt-A-Wolf memberships and---until about a year and a half ago--have had virtually no part in the bitter Mexican
fisheries battles going back decades. I couldnt believe anyone in Mexico would take them seriously on commercial fisheries matters.
But I was so wrong!
Seriously or not, Defenders of Wildlifers position has now been cunningly exploited by the pro-commercial fishing federal government as justification
for longlining inside the Sea of Cortez!
Remember the date of Friday, March 19, 2004.
On that day last week, the true damage of the Defenders of Wildlife backing of a 30-mile limit was revealed when Javier Usabiaga, Mexicors Minister of
Agriculture, Ranching, Rural Development, Fishing, and Food Production (SAGARPA), came to Cabo San Lucas and said, in effect (paraphrasing from
sources present): We have a very important U.S. NGO (referring to Defenders of Wildlife, but not actually using their name) and the whole commercial
fishing industry saying the 30-mile limit is proper. Since there is no scientific information available to the contrary, we are inclined to agree with
them.
Usabiaga, it should be noted, works directly under President Fox. Regardless of any other meetings being held elsewhere, or what anyone is indignantly
emailing to anyone, this manrs word can be considered the best indication of what is actually going to happen now.
And that, mis amigos, truly sucks.
This is a disastrous betrayal and defeat for all the NGOs that have worked so hard and so long for marine conservation in Mexico.
Defenders of Wildlife--a foreign NGO having no insider knowledge of the very dirty world of Mexican commercial fishing, and no personal experience
with the terrible destruction that has occurred over the past 40 years--has been duped into believing SAGARPA (SAGARPA!) would actually enforce a
30-mile limit, with Vessel Monitoring Systems and a human Observer Program. What a sad travesty!
There are individuals in Mexico who dream of profiting from the lucrative contracts for an Observer Program that would most probably be funded under
the proposed new shark norma in order to feign monitoring this longlining of the Sea of Cortez.
Defenders of Wildlifers naive and uninformed position--a gift coming from outer space--has now unwittingly made those individualrs dreams much closer
to reality. Im sure they are laughing their nalgas off in Mexico City.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
THE 30-MILE PROBLEM
By Gene Kira, March 29, 2004, as orginally published in Western Outdoor News
Last week, this column described how the U.S. conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife has disrupted the amendment process for Mexicors Shark
Norma 029 by accepting the notion of longline ships to within 30 miles of the coast--which would permit them to fish inside the Sea of Cortez.
In that column, I said that during a recent meeting at Los Cabos, Javier Usabiaga, Mexicors Minister of Agriculture, Ranching, Rural Development,
Fishing, and Food Production (SAGARPA), had exploited Defenders of Wildlifers position to help justify a probable 30-mile national policy.
That was during a period when thousands of emails were being sent to the Mexican federal government, protesting the 30-mile limit and Defenders of
Wildlifers acceptance of it. Under pressure, Defenders of Wildlife circulated a Letter to Colleagues last Thursday in which they said:
Contrary to a statement by Gene Kira in Western Outdoor News, it is not true that agriculture and fisheries minister Javier Usabiaga said recently
that lsquoan American NGO was supporting the 30-mile limit. When Defenders provided a copy of Mr. Kirars opinion piece to the ministry, they responded
that the issue of the 30-mile limit was never discussed at the meeting Kira mentions, and that the minister made no references to the 30-mile limit or
to lsquoAmerican NGOs.
Ooooo, boy, did that tickle my funny bone.
This statement sadly confirms Defenders of Wildlifers continuing credulity with regards to the real world of Mexican commercial fishing politics.
There is no way Usabiaga could admit in public to being influenced by gringos. Of course they denied it.
The fact is that the exact phrase Defenders of Wildlife was used at least twice, perhaps three times, in the moments before Usabiaga spoke during this
closed meeting, and the 30-mile limit was explicitly referred to as well. Although he spoke indirectly, there was absolutely no misunderstanding of
Usabiagars meaning.
But whatrs really going on here?
Defenders of Wildlife persists in denying the ugly fact that SAGARPA lacks the will to enforce even its present fisheries laws. Defenders of Wildlife
repeatedly implies that such things as Vessel Monitoring Systems and human observer programs can compel SAGARPA to begin enforcing the law. For
example:
NOM 029 would close down the worst of these activities almost immediately, and place real and meaningful constraints on the others...
?Qu?? This is ludicrously naive. SAGARPA is not going to magically transform its culture just because of some fancy new shark norma. SAGARPA already
has plenty of laws that it ignores. Defenders of Wildlife apparently does not appreciate what a total, chaotic, out of control longlining mess a
30-mile norma would perpetuate inside the Sea of Cortez.
And even worse, continuing disrespect for this 30-mile limit would have a cascading effect, helping to preserve Mexicors present lack of control over
trawling, gill nets, bycatch, totoaba poaching, turtle deaths, whale deaths, panga longliners, commercial divers, and reef traps.
Defenders of Wildlifers weak justification for 30 miles is that there is no present legal or scientific basis for 50 miles (which would protect the
Sea of Cortez), and besides, 30 miles is better than the 12-mile bargaining chip tossed on the table by the fishing lobby. Therefore--in order to win
other types of concessions contained elsewhere in the norma--they would compromise at 30 miles and accept longlining inside the Sea of Cortez. This is
precisely the open door that the Puerto Pe?asco-Guaymas-Mazatl?n fleets want!
This submissive deal-bargaining conveniently ignores the fact that there is no legal or scientific basis for 30 miles either! Hey! Pick a number! And
give it away!
The problem with a 30-mile limit is that--with ships running around night and day inside the Sea of Cortez--it would take an armada of inspectors to
enforce it. And not only that, they would have to be honest inspectors. Where are they to come from? SAGARPA?
The lack of rigor in Defenders of Wildlifers reasoning was made clear in last weekrs letter, as they were forced into some quick backpedaling:
...Defenders is willing to propose to Mexican authorities that an additional provision be added to NOM 029, which would temporarily close the Gulf to
medium-sized vessels until there is sufficient scientific information on the shark populations to demonstrate that additional fishing effort can be
sustained. Until this evidence could be provided, the Gulf would remain closed to medium-sized vessels.
This kind of fence-straddling isnt nearly good enough. Because of the continuing chaos 30 miles would bring, the Sea of Cortez needs 50 miles etched
in stone. Period.
At this supremely critical moment in the history of marine conservation in Mexico, everyone who values the Sea of Cortez should draw a line across the
water, here and now, from Cabo San Lucas to Mazatl?n. Any ship caught longlining north of that line gets confiscated!
That is honest, simple, clear, direct, and most of all, enforceable in the real world. That much we can do--with the Navy and the coming Guardianes
del Mar. That would be a true beginning which could start a chain reaction for all the good things to follow in the rest of Mexicors beautiful seas.
And...the hope of that wonderful vision is why the 30-mile limit is simply wrong.
BAJA NUMBERS GAMES
By Gene Kira, May 3, 2004, as orginally published in Western Outdoor News
In this job, you read a whole bunch of Baja fish counts and fish reports every week, and Im often in a dither about how to react to some of the
numbers that come in.
For example: ...12 dorado for two fishermen, ...15 dorado and one marlin for three fishermen, 10 dorado for two fishermen, etc.
These particular counts happen to come from two well-known Baja fleets, and the point is that nobody--including the clients, captains, or
owners--seemed to know and/or care that the daily Mexican bag limit for dorado is two (2) fish.
So many of these excessive reports have been coming in lately, I decided to take a sneaky little survey last week, just to see how much we Baja fish
folks are paying attention to any kind of numbers.
In the very first sentence of last weekrs column, I blatantly inserted the innocent-looking phrase: ...the little five-letter word lsquoganion. Since
the word ganion actually has six letters (go ahead, count em), not five, I figured that would surely generate plenty of emails from WONrs many alert
readers, who are normally so quick to point out the slightest misplaced dot.
Well...out of more than 100,000 weekly readers of WON, I received a grand total of only one complaint (Thank you! Barry Woodward of Yuma, Ariz.!).
Okay, okay, that dont prove nuthin, right?
True, but in the interest of those .001 percent of readers who do pay attention to numbers, here are some possibly interesting ones related to Baja
fishing:
Zero--The number of times I have had my fish counted by a Sagarpa official.
Zero--The number of giant squid you are officially allowed to take.
Zero--The amount of live bait you are officially allowed to use (unless you are fishing in a tournament with a special permit).
Two--The number of very fast-growing dorado you are allowed to keep per day.
(But) Five--The number of very slow-growing and now quite rare giant black sea bass you are allowed per day.
Four--The maximum number of hooks allowed on a Lucky Joe rig, or any other multi-hook rig.
One--The number of lines in the water allowed per angler.
Two--The number of licenses you may need at Cabo San Lucas (if you already own an annual license, you still need to buy another one with a local stamp
on it, whatever that is, according to a few locals).
Unknown--The number of fish a licensed sportfishing captain is legally allowed to catch, if any, in addition to his clientrs.
Unlimited--The number of fish a Mexican sport angler is allowed to catch (according to some Mexicans, hah!).
Very Important Note: Some of these numbers actually come from the printed regulations, and others come from local anecdotes only. All numbers are
usually ignored anyway, but it should be remembered that they may nevertheless be subject to sudden, Gestapo-like enforcement, at a momentrs notice.
As a safe practice, I always have my annual license, I always stay within the printed bag limits, and I almost always follow the other printed
regulations (although Ive never been such a stickler as to cut hooks off a Lucky Joe rig, and I neither would I troll with only one rod when fishing
solo).
Unfortunately, many of these numbers--and a plethora of others related to sport fishing in Mexico--are so nonsensical, nobody, not even Sagarpa, pays
any attention to them. After many inquiries, I have yet to receive any explanation from Sagarpa about such things as the logic of dorado versus black
sea bass limits, the almost universal use of live bait, and fish limits for Mexican sport fishing captains.
Really, you get the distinct impression that nobody at Sagarpa knows anything at all about sportfishing, and maybe thatrs why we get such crazy, crazy
numbers out of Mexico City.
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
Member Is Offline
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So because Mexico is so screwed up,
and not trying to do anything about it, we as gringos should take full advantage of it.
They don't have police so lets throw our trash overboard.
They don't have enough game wardens so let's catch more than we need.
They are the ones ruining their own ocean so let's do all we can to help expedite matters.
That's the impression I get from most gringos.
If rod and reel fishing makes little or no difference in the fish, why did they make bag limits? Just another ridiculous rule made be corrupt
politicians?
If you think that you can't make a difference by setting a good example and at least trying to do what is right, there is no sense continueing this
conversation.
Mexico, in spite of the hurdles, (lack of funding, hungry people, etc) is at least trying to do something about it.
Which is more than I can say for the gringo tourists who don't seem to give a chit other than as usual, blaming someone else.
I used to fish and snorkel in the states. Now I am afraid of infection. What happened there ? It's about to happen here too unless we ALL try and
do something about it. No matter who's fault you think it is.
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
Member Is Offline
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How many hooks
do you think will be in the water when there are 20 or 30,000 private boats cruising around in the Sea of Cortez.
Coming Soon, see your latest Baja development schemes!
Eventually, the gill nets and long liners will be banned here. The way I see it is that if the Gringo fishermen and tourists set a good example
here, they will continue to be able to use these resources and enjoy them.
Perhaps the Mexican government will realize that there actually is more money in tourism (in this case sport fishing) and do something about the
vessels of mass destruction in Mexican waters.
They are well aware of these issues. Let's give them a reason to hurry up. Let's set a good example ourselves.
More fish, cleaner waters, more tourism!
And, one of my neighbors was a commercial fisherman. He has some movies out at sea around the Tahiti area that are pretty cool although somewhat
disgusting.
If your ever in the neighborhood and he's around!
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
Member Is Offline
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Good point
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