BajaNomad

FISH IN LA BOCANA, BCS

BajaBlanca - 8-26-2011 at 05:03 PM

Our guests from LA area went out fishing last 2 days (8/24 and 8/25). On the first day they caught ( BUT DID NOT KEEP) 11 yellows up to 20 lbs and 2 White sea Bass of 15lbs or so and some locals caught a 40 to 50 lbs White sea bass as well. On the second day they caught (BUT DID NOT KEEP) 41 yellowtail up to 27lbs and some cabria.

LES HEIL

[Edited on 8-27-2011 by BajaBlanca]

DENNIS - 8-26-2011 at 05:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaBlanca
some locals caught a 40 to 50 lbs White sea bass


There are people out there who would kill to catch a quality fish like that. What a great day on the water.

Thanks, Les.

vandenberg - 8-26-2011 at 05:11 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaBlanca
Our guests from LA area went out fishing last 2 days (8/24 and 8/25). On the first day they caught 11 yellows up to 20 lbs and 2 White sea Bass of 15lbs or so and some locals caught a 40 to 50 lbs White sea bass as well. On the second day they caught 41 yellowtail up to 27lbs and some cabria, most fish were donated to the Co-Op.

LES HEIL



NO LIMITS.:?::?:

shari - 8-26-2011 at 05:38 PM

Yeah...I just dont get that sport fishers can "donate" their fish to the coop....as these "sport fish" get sold for profit and the sportsfishing law clearly state that sportfish are for personal consumption and not for monetary gain. It makes it pretty hard to compete as a charter operator who are only allowed to boat 5 yellowtail per client. Sports fishing and commercial cooperative fishing are 2 different permits... so how is that gringos can get fish for a commercial coop?

I am happy the coop is diversifying into sportsfishing but feel that the sport limits should be upheld.

Bill also got a nice white seabass by san roque this week.

I'm a little miffed today as we just saw one of the local charter fishermen come in and boast they got 54 yellowtail today with a client from TJ...unfortunately the fisheries inspector was in Abreojos....wonder if he had his biosphere bracelet??? ....sheesh

[Edited on 8-27-2011 by shari]

woody with a view - 8-26-2011 at 06:05 PM

what she said ^^^^^ . it's a small world after all. SING IT! it's a small world after all......

siete hermanas not withstanding....

BajaBlanca - 8-26-2011 at 07:20 PM

the coop bigwigs here have always told us that fishermen CAN donate ! Is it possible we operate under other rules or are they ignoring the leyes de pesca deportiva ???? very odd .....

sheeesh is right !

before the coop took over: years ago we had an incident where the captain "confiscated" all the fish the gringoes had caught. Well, he tried to, I don't think they gave the fish up. talk about crazy ! You pay to go fishing and then get NO fish ...NOT !!

DaliDali - 8-26-2011 at 07:29 PM

Irregardless if a donation to the co-op is kosher or not.....your guests were WAY over the legal limits.....unless there were 8.2 of them!!!!!

shari - 8-26-2011 at 08:15 PM

what he said!!!

what is the point of having a sports fishing license then if one doesnt have to respect the limits...supposedly your clients are fishing with a sport fishing license and on the license it clearly states that 5 fish of each species of yellowtail and calico are all you can bring aboard.

too bad the inspectors arent doing their job and checking the fishers when they come in.

But I gotta tell ya, Juan is getting pretty pi$$ed when he reads about and sees all these sport fishing guides blatanly disregarding the regulations and bragging about all the fish they brought in with no reprecussions.

[Edited on 8-27-2011 by shari]

vgabndo - 8-26-2011 at 08:58 PM

It pains me to read this. Having come from the Gulf side where the regulations away from the towns just don't mean anything, I had been very complimentary of the coop system on the Pac coast, and it seemed that the fishers were doing a good job of policing themselves.

My feeling is that Bahia Asuncion hasn't had a reputation for abuse of the fishery, and it would be a real shame if that were to be allowed to happen. Sorry.

I'm also fully confident that Juan's standing in the community will go a long way toward seeing the miscreants pulled into line.

In La Bocana I got a different feeling. I saw coop fish boxes there filled with what I'd call fish protein. The little things wouldn't have been keepers had they been trout! I saw a lot of traps.

BajaBlanca - 8-26-2011 at 09:06 PM

I think the email should have been worded differently - my baddddddddddddd. coulda shoulda woulda reworded it

most were catch and release since el chino didn't want to take any home. not sure why, but he didnt want any. he travels the world and every fish he catches, he donates to the communities in Fiji, Panama and Mexico.

the coop filleted and deep-froze and shrink wrapped some fish at $1 a kilo for his partner, who did take some home. he was not over his limit.

I truly believe the guides don't know about the rules, coop sure needs to get on top of this. This being their first year, it is all new for them. I had NO idea fishermen were not allowed to donate their fish .... and to be honest, I am not sure I understand why they can't ...altho' I do get that this is the LAW.

BajaDanD - 8-26-2011 at 09:27 PM

They can donate them just not to someone who is going to sell them

Skipjack Joe - 8-26-2011 at 11:32 PM

I believe that the reason you can't 'donate' fish to commercial fishermen is that your take then is no longer restricted to 5 fish. Which upsets the management of the fishery.

Ethical fishermen don't keep more fish than they can eat anyway. A five fish limit is very generous.

shari - 8-27-2011 at 06:58 AM

Many fishermen donate fish when they get to shore....but only their legal limit. It's pretty obvious to me why limits are required...because many humans are gluttons and greedy and will just take as much as they can.

Blanca, you can imagine how some may abuse a no limit system. It's easy to say you are donating fish...but to a coop means there is financial gain from a sport fish which is NOT a commercial fish.

We have had clients who wont fish with us anymore because we enforce the legal limits and they want to fill coolers to take home...even some restaurant owners come to "load up" on tuna so they can sell sashimi for big pesos. This makes it tough in our lean times when we lose clients to other charter operators who are known to ignore the regulations...sort of unfair competition. We have denied charters to those who dont want to buy fishing licenses or biosphere permits and they just turn around and go with another operator...it is getting more and more frustrating.

How can the captains plead ignorance when there have been meetings to explain all the regs in La Bocana. We have had lengthy discussions with the fisheries inspectors about this and they say it aint right either. The biosphere reserve system has now been in effect long enough that La Bocana & Abreojos should be in compliance and well...every fishing license spells out the regs in english on limits.

Supposedly all these expensive permits we have are so there is better protection & enforcement but I'm not seeing it.

I guess if the permits and boats are owned by the coop, there is less threat of a captain of losing his permit or panga or getting fined as it's not his personal gear. When you do the math, it is nearly impossible for a small charter operator to break even if they comply with all the regs and permits so things being so very very difficult....well...this sort of illegal competition really irks and financially affects ethical operators....grrrrr

BajaBlanca - 8-27-2011 at 12:11 PM

this is so easy to fix. I just didn't know. yours truly does not ever fish. well, I did once (dorado caught) and that was good enough for me. Now I eat 'em !! and love 'em in the frying pan....

yellowklr - 8-28-2011 at 08:16 PM

LETS just tell it how it IS.....La Bocana is a great place with great people......BUT they don't know catch and release and they don't know limits. They keep everything even when sportfishing and that needs to change NOW...They need to learn to seperate sportfishing and Com. fishing..........Blanca this is something you might want to bring up to the powers at the COOP because this is important....Not only can the coop get into trouble but the Anglers as well. Its the right thing to do! Don't think for a second I'm blaming anyone in La Bocana this is what they are use to and its how they have always done it.....
Times are a changing whether we like it or not!!!!!!

have a great Fall!

[Edited on 8-29-2011 by yellowklr]

[Edited on 8-30-2011 by yellowklr]

surfdoc - 8-29-2011 at 01:52 PM

Limits are Limits.... if ya don't know the rules don't get in the game period..

Having the Coop working with a sportfishing operation is like having the Fox guarding the Henhouse... it will not work.. Also if Conpesca were to show up when they had Gringos for clients they're could be some real trouble for the gringos...
Possible over limits, no Biosphere bracelet,lic etc... is it worth it ?? Not to me...
Have my annual biosphere permit, lic and pangas registered w/ Santa Roselia... and staying in the limits is easy...

Some of the towns don't get it... hopefully using the website Shari posted on another thread helps get this potentiol problem licked also.. but not holding my breath.

Terry28 - 8-29-2011 at 05:32 PM

Laws without enforcement are merely suggestions........

surfdoc - 8-29-2011 at 06:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Terry28
Laws without enforcement are merely suggestions........


So very very true!.............best comment I've read allday!

BajaBlanca - 8-29-2011 at 09:14 PM

the coop is also going out daily with nets and bringing in TONS - quite literally - of fish. That, to me, is just ridiculous. That has been my on-going conversation with the coop bigwigs constantly.

I honestly don't think the coop will have a problem enforcing the limit law. Maybe I am being naive. We shall see.

shari - 8-30-2011 at 08:02 AM

what may be happening is that the sportfish captain on duty that day turns in the fish like he would if he were commercial fishing and gets the $$$ on his paycheck which means he isnt going to want to give up that cash cow and the bottom line is the coop wants more fish any way they can get them.

The coop pays it's sportfish captains less than a normal private sector captain would make so perhaps the coop is allowing this little...ummm...practise to be used to compensate the lower pay.

It is known that some coop fishermen trade things like smokes, cerveza, caracol etc to the big seiners for a boatload of yellowtail and they in turn sell it to the coop like they caught it...pretty tricky eh...which is why some guys are disappointed the seiners moved on.

Pacifico - 8-30-2011 at 08:07 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Terry28
Laws without enforcement are merely suggestions........


Well said.....

yellowklr - 8-30-2011 at 10:19 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaBlanca
the coop is also going out daily with nets and bringing in TONS - quite literally - of fish. That, to me, is just ridiculous. That has been my on-going conversation with the coop bigwigs constantly.

I honestly don't think the coop will have a problem enforcing the limit law. Maybe I am being naive. We shall see.



I hope you are right Blanca..........I just don't want to see anyone or the COOP get in trouble.
Take Care and enjoy paradise

BajaBlanca - 8-30-2011 at 01:32 PM

and like I said, the coop is very cooperative and at least, with me, always listen respectfully and eventually things do change. The beach used to be FILTHY where they fish and garbage cans full of trash flying around. NO MORE.

fishermen used to dump their trash into the ocean waters and now they bring trash bags with their waste back. OCEAN POLLUTION NO MORE.

Les talked to them this morning about licenses and limits and donations and BINGO. Everyone is now in the know and complying fully with limits yahooooo

how do I know this? everyone who came in today was found copacetic !! all with appropriate paperwork down to the last person !! all with correct number of fish :) AND THE INSPECTORS - MIRACLE OF MIRACLES - WERE THERE. Whatever happened to mexican manana LOL.

and we so love paradise.

BajaBlanca - 8-30-2011 at 01:35 PM

@ shari - i don't know cause I have never asked but I think our la bocana coop captains are paid VERY WELL. not only that, everyone who comes usually tips them and furthermore, they are soooooooo loved that they are always getting little gifts from guests - well deserved cause boy do they try hard to please.