BajaNomad

Please help us add Dorado from Mexico as an IUU at risk species

worldsaquarium - 5-26-2015 at 09:21 PM

Attention all fisherman Sport Fisherman and women in the Sea of Cortes. My name if Vince Radice and I represent a Non Profit called WorldsAquarium. I live in San Carlos, Sonora Mexico, mainland side of the SOC and I am asking for your help. NOAA is now taking public comments for the presidential task force on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and Seafood Fraud.

Here is the PDF on Public Comments, http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ia/iuu/iuu-atriskspecies_presentati...


Here is the issue in a nutshell:

Dorado in Mexico is a protected species. It is protected under Mexican law for sport fisherman only, no commercial fishing allowed. Even though Dorado has protection under Mexican law last year 700,000 kilos of Dorado were illegally shipped to the United States of America. This has been going on for years. Thousands of marine turtles die in the hundreds of thousands of hooks used in this illegal long line fishery. Legally caught Mahi Mahi from Hawaii looses market value in the U.S. because of illegally caught dorado from Mexico flooding the southern California seafood market place.
I would urge all sport fisherman to please go to this link,

[url=http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2014-0090]Registry on public comments[/url]


and tell the Presidential Task Force and NOAA that fish that are illegally and unsustainably caught, such as Dorado in Mexico, should not be allowed to enter into the United States of America!
There is more information on this issue at our web site below and there will be a live Webinar on the 4th of June, we have until the 8th of June to make public comments!

www.worldsaquarium.org

Thanks for your help, Sincerely Vince


ChartGo Dorado.png - 23kB

[Edited on 5-27-2015 by worldsaquarium]

[Edited on 5-27-2015 by worldsaquarium]

[Edited on 5-27-2015 by worldsaquarium]

worldsaquarium - 5-26-2015 at 09:30 PM

For some reason I can not get the link to work for the public registry on comments. If you go to www.worldsaquarium.org there are plenty of links to the Webinar and Comments page.

thanks

Vince

55steve - 5-26-2015 at 11:16 PM

Dorado are not and most likely never will be an at risk species - they are the fastest growing and most widespread pelagic tropical/temperate species on the planet.

redhilltown - 5-26-2015 at 11:29 PM

Quote: Originally posted by 55steve  
Dorado are not and most likely never will be an at risk species - they are the fastest growing and most widespread pelagic tropical/temperate species on the planet.



And therefore, we should allow them to be raped and harvested at will since they can never really be wiped out...

Russ - 5-27-2015 at 05:49 AM

They are a rarity around here and fish numbers have been declining for years in this area. However I believe the commercial take of their food source has a large part to do with that too. Since they are such veracious eaters they have to follow the food and I see more seiners than I do bait ball these days.
:mad:
Quote: Originally posted by 55steve  
Dorado are not and most likely never will be an at risk species - they are the fastest growing and most widespread pelagic tropical/temperate species on the planet.

55steve - 5-27-2015 at 07:49 AM

You are correct Russ - an abundant food source is key. These fish only have about a 5 year lifespan and must constantly eat.

Conservation efforts need to be more focused on the groundfish that are critical to the health of the ecosystem - current regulations allow a 5 fish take. Groundfish may only cover a small area in their lifetime and are easy to decimate.

MitchMan - 5-27-2015 at 09:37 AM

This is not an "either or" situation. While it is true that Dorado reproduce better than most all other types of fish, their numbers and, in some instances, the extent of their presence has diminished dramatically around the world and in Baja. Ground fish really need protection, but so do Dorado.

Hook - 5-27-2015 at 09:55 AM

I just find it very aggravating that Mexico cant enforce their own regulations. If commercial dorado fishing were truly banned, there would be no need to try and stop its illegal importation into the US.

Vince knows I feel like this. But the reality is, commercial fishing and enforcement of commercial fishing in Mexico is a completely corrupt business. It's akin to trying to stop the drug trade; just too much corruption on all sides of the equation. And the demand keeps it going.

I'm just a little worried that if the importation of Mexican dorado is truly banned in the US, then the illegal fishing ops will just find other markets. There IS a significant amount of dorado available in restaurants, fish markets, etc., down here in Mexico.

The shills for the Mexican fishing fleet have done a good job of making this whole scenario into a Mexico vs USA debate and plying on Mexico's sense of pride. They portray the fight to ban commercialization of dorado fishing as an attempt by rich "foreigners" to safeguard dorado fishing on their big-bucks sportfishing boats.

In truth, if they enforced no commercial fishing for dorado, all the sportfishers in Mexico couldn't make a dent in the dorado population. They just reproduce too fast.

I would like to see a size limit on dorado, though. People are still keeping 5-8 lbers over here, and those females havent had much chance to reproduce.

I guess it's tough to resist the 5-8 lbers when the chances of catching ANY dorado have gotten so low. They are becoming rare over here. We just had a two day tournament on Mem Day wknd, and only TWO weighable dorado (>15 lbs) were caught in approx. 288 boat/hours of fishing. It's a little early in the year, but, come on..............the dorado are hurting.

In the end, I have to support Vince's efforts. Anyone who supports increasing dorado numbers, should.

[Edited on 5-27-2015 by Hook]

[Edited on 5-27-2015 by Hook]

David K - 5-27-2015 at 09:59 AM

Is Talapia a guilt-free choice at restaurants? The squarecircle and I had lunch yesterday at an excellent Mexican restaurant on Home Ave. San Diego (by the 805) and he recommended (and it was very good) the Talapia Torta.

Quetion

durrelllrobert - 5-27-2015 at 10:02 AM

How would any official know that a Dorado was illegally and unsustainable caught Vs caught legally by a sport fisherman?
Also, what about the tons of Mahi-Mahi being brought in from other countries or are you only concerned abotu Mexican fish?

Maybe they taste OK but......

durrelllrobert - 5-27-2015 at 10:27 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  
Is Talapia a guilt-free choice at restaurants? The squarecircle and I had lunch yesterday at an excellent Mexican restaurant on Home Ave. San Diego (by the 805) and he recommended (and it was very good) the Talapia Torta.


...The traditional way of farming tilapia is in ponds (some less than 12" deep) where the fish can make use of naturally occurring food. In many parts of the world, including the USA, farm animals such as chicken and pigs are raised in conjunction with the fish ponds since their manure can be used to make the pond richer in tilapia food. During the 20th century, two new methods for farming tilapia developed: tank farming and cage farming. All three types of farming come with their own pros and cons which you can read more about on this site.

www.socalfishfarm.com/fish/index.php?option=com_content&...

Tilapia are a tropical fish, the scientific name is Oreochromis urolepis hornorum, and they are directly related to the common Gold Fish and many people keep them in their aquariums.

Since tilapia is such a popular food fish it has been introduced to many different parts of the world and is now found in the wild on all continents except Antarctica. Sometimes it has been deliberately introduced as food fish to lakes and other bodies of water, sometimes fish have managed to escape from fish farms. Tilapia has also been introduced in order to combat mosquitoes and aquatic weeds. Since many tilapia species are highly adaptable it is easy for them to thrive in their new homes and tilapia have become a problematic invasive species in several countries


[Edited on 5-27-2015 by durrelllrobert]

Hook - 5-27-2015 at 11:16 AM

Quote: Originally posted by durrelllrobert  
How would any official know that a Dorado was illegally and unsustainable caught Vs caught legally by a sport fisherman?


Really, I think worldsaquarium is simply trying to stop the commercial quantities of dorado that enter from Mexico. The legal sportfishing quantities that return to the US, probably arent significant quantities and certainly not enough to keep fish markets and restaurants supplied. That's where the demand is.
Quote:
Also, what about the tons of Mahi-Mahi being brought in from other countries or are you only concerned abotu Mexican fish?


I think mahi fishing in other countries is legal for commercial use. This is about the fact that it is illegal to fish them commercially in Mexico, where Vince and I live. But I appear to be speaking for the organization, when I really shouldn't. I am just guessing.

I'm pretty sure the name "worldsaquarium" is in reference to Jacques Cousteau's description of the Sea of Cortez as "the world's aquarium."

chuckie - 5-27-2015 at 11:35 AM

There should be no question among those of us who fish the SOC that we catch far fewer and smaller Dorado each year. Why? I dunno....buts it's true. Lots of "experts" have lots of opinions.....

Pescador - 5-27-2015 at 12:10 PM

Vince produced a killer video showing the amount of fish being offloaded at the docks in Guaymas, showed them going to the coolers, and then loaded on to trucks, which sailed right through customs into the US. When he showed that video to the the powers that be in Mexico he got absolutely no response. There is a big push on to make the species legal for commercial fishermen and their biggest beef is that Mexico is trying to save a few dorado for the rich gringos who come down here to sport fish. Three times when they held secret meetings, Minerva from Cabo found out and those of us who could attend made it to the meetings. Only because these fish are such fast growers and prolific, is the problem so slow to come to the front, but creel counts, size counts and other measures of the health of the population show that the dorado population in the Sea of Cortez is in serious trouble. Gee, can you spell Totuaba?

bajabuddha - 5-27-2015 at 12:38 PM

Sorry to hijack from Dorado, but an above-post caught my attention.

I saw a documentary on Tilapia, and why they are so abundant. Seems they are a fresh-water fish, a regular world's staple fish and endemic mainly to shallow brackish lakes and streams in Africa, and are now imported world-wide because they're extremely prolific and easy to raise. The show highlighted the use of Tilapia as a tank-cleaner fish for commercial striped bass farms in SoCal and AZ; they eat the feces of the bass, thereby creating a double-fishery for the price of one. Once the bass have reached maturity, the tilapia are harvested next once the tanks are 'cleaned' for the next batch.

I call 'em 'Turd-Eaters'.

Two weeks ago in Las Cruces we lunched at a sushi bar. We ordered what was supposed to be 'red snapper' nigiri...... the hostess let slip that they were serving tilapia in place of, and RAW.... needless to say, it put me off my feed. No wonder it's $2.98 per pound, and catfish has soared to $6.98.

Back to Dorado; literally ALL species of aquatic life are at risk in the SOC, the declining numbers of Dorado doesn't surprise me in the least. It's reported that over 30% of all life in the SOC has been eliminated across the board. The point of dangerous over-harvesting is a blanket concern. The inability of the Mexican Government to regulate or enforce anything is kind of a moot point, don't you think? The only 'regulations' have been the regulating of self-appropriations for their own pockets. Dorado is one of their least concerns.

[Edited on 5-27-2015 by bajabuddha]

monoloco - 5-27-2015 at 07:14 PM

The comercial fishing of dorado continues unabated by the Punta Lobos co-op in Todos Santos. It's not unusual to see the pangas come in with 50-100 dorado, I have also seen them with marlin stacked like cordwood. They pretty much completely disregard the reglas. Personally, I stick to the sport limit of two fish and release the females.

AKgringo - 5-27-2015 at 08:04 PM

Education and legislation to protect the population of the game fish in the SOC is a worthwhile goal, but without aggressive and incorruptible enforcement I am betting on greed to win.
With the top predators being removed, are any species benefiting from the lack of competition for the food source?

redhilltown - 5-28-2015 at 12:03 AM

I've said it before but what really peees me off is that the Sea of Cortez--relatively speaking--is such an easy body of water to patrol and control! It is all Mexico...they can do whatever the want...or don't want.

Russ - 5-28-2015 at 05:31 AM

X2
Quote: Originally posted by redhilltown  
I've said it before but what really peees me off is that the Sea of Cortez--relatively speaking--is such an easy body of water to patrol and control! It is all Mexico...they can do whatever the want...or don't want.

chippy - 5-28-2015 at 05:34 AM

SKEET where are you?

blackwolfmt - 5-28-2015 at 08:59 AM

IMO the 700,000Kilos was shipped to Asia not the US

David K - 5-28-2015 at 09:01 AM

X3
Quote: Originally posted by redhilltown  
I've said it before but what really peees me off is that the Sea of Cortez--relatively speaking--is such an easy body of water to patrol and control! It is all Mexico...they can do whatever the want...or don't want.

Pompano - 5-28-2015 at 11:16 AM

According to some...We've got just a few years left..and then Ba-zinga!

2050 is just around the corner.

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/are-the-ocean...

worldsaquarium - 5-31-2015 at 12:50 PM

Thanks for all the comments! I think it important to mention that dorado became a protected species in Mexico around 1984. It was protected under Article 68 of the General Law of Mexican Fisheries. As many people know what article 68 what designed to do was to protect the Sea of Cortes. It did this by saying that dorado and the other species such as marlin and sailfish could not be fished within 50 miles of the coast. This protected pretty much the whole SOC.

Now as Mexico over fished everything else they have now come for the sport fishing species that were protected. Everyone also knows that the dorado catch for sport fishing is way down, even though dorado are the fastest growing fish in the oceans.

I think you should all think of the issue like this. Dorado is pretty much no different that tuna 30 years ago. Even though they produce fast does not mean they will can not be wiped out by commercial fishing. All we ask the Americans to do is enforce their own laws

Dorado is already illegal to import into the United States because of the Lacy Act. The new IUU stuff is just another tool but make no mistake, if the Sea of Cortes is to be saved then Dorado needs to be protected within it and within the 50 mile zone created by Article 68.

Something I learned a few weeks ago at the Blue Vision summit is this. If we as a species, homo supposed sapiens, don't change what we are doing and how we are interacting with our oceans then by 2050, 35 short years from now, there will be two tonnes of plastic in the ocean for every ton of fish. That is a future I don't want to see for my children.

Thanks for the comments and I urge everyone to make a comment with NOAA before the 8th of June deadline!

We at worldsaquarium will litigate the issue if the gringos continue to allow the dorado to cross the border though. Enough if enough!

Saludos a todos!!


worldsaquarium - 5-31-2015 at 12:54 PM

Quote: Originally posted by blackwolfmt  
IMO the 700,000Kilos was shipped to Asia not the US



The 700,000 that I quote is directly from NOAA and all that fish was sent to the U.S.A. and that is indisputable fact! Anyone can find that information out if they simply go to the NOAA search query and do some basic clicking.

Pescador - 6-1-2015 at 06:59 AM

You can also go on you tube and see the video that Vince did showing the trucks crossing into the US loaded with dorado.