Originally posted by Bajalero
It's a real shame Rich.
The first time I saw the local fishermen netting around the rocky points at PC was about 10 or so years ago .
At that time I thought WTF!- These idiots just don't give a crap
(and to those so inclined please spare me the poor Mexican feeding his 8 kids diatribe)
It wasn't necessarily a weather related occurrence , they were netting the reefs even in good water conditions.
They were netting the reefs when they could have been offshore catching dorado , barillete and scores of other types of fish.
So why are they doing this .? The only thing I can figure is that it was the last untouched fishery and an easy catch.
The shrimpers relentlessly dredged the bottom of St. Inez bay and no one cared.
The hooka divers scoured clean every rock from Santa Rosalia through the whole of Bahia Conception and no one cared.
The international sieners stripped out he pelagics and no one cared.
The multitudes of panga fishermen depleted the the deep water reefs of the largest population of bottom fish and now most of them are involved in
calamar and shark fishing - the trash species-(no offense to sharks and squid).
Add to that the pressure that the Gringos and Canucks put on the fisheries by taking way more than they could ever possibly eat and "giving it away"
trying to feed whole villages is just insane.
Is it any wonder that the once beautiful and abundant underwater near shore habitat in the Punta Chivato area is now largely a barren , lifeless,
algae covered and uninteresting moon scape?
I'm sure its happening all over the Sea of Cortez. It is now relatively a "dead sea" compared to what it was even 10 or 20 years ago and If different
attitudes and protections aren't instilled or installed we will witness its ultimate demise |