howat - 12-21-2007 at 01:29 PM
A friend of mine wants me to join him on a Midriff long range fishing charter out of San Felipe that fishes the Midriff area in 4/08. The boat is the
newer 130' Andrea Lynn. I thought the Midriff area was made a Marine Park in June 07 and is now closed to fishing, i.e. BOLA, Isla Guardia and the 3
islands south of there.
Is this true?
HH
Don Alley - 12-21-2007 at 01:51 PM
At least part of that area was declared a protected area of some sort. Rules for such areas are made on a case-by-case basis. In the case of the area
on the Pacific side around Guadalupe Island, bureaucratic in fighting between locals and DF caused some delays in allowing fishing by the San Diego
fleet, but those problems have since been resolved and sportfishing is allowed.
As far as I know, there are no rules in place for the BOLA area but they are coming. Best bet will be superficial and cosmetic regulations governing
commercial fishing, and a wristband fee program for gringos. That's what's happened at Loreto and seems to be the case at Guadalupe. Local BOLA people
will be part of the rulemaking process so it is unlikely that the area will adopt the no fishing regulations of the Cabo Pulmo and Rev. Islands
protected areas. But count on a lobby to close all sport fishing to try and close as much as possible.