BajaNomad

Permanent ban on gill nets. A step in the right direction.

JakeinVegas - 7-21-2016 at 05:19 PM

The Mexican government just announced a permanent ban on gillnet fishing in selected areas in the Northern Sea of Cortez. This is in response to protecting the Vaquita and Totoaba but I hope this mentality continues to spread and that more people look to the future.

I love to see responsible fisheries management like what I have read about in Bahia Asuncion. These are local fisherman who recognize that they must conserve resources if they want the sea to take care of their families in the future.

As far as I am concerned the trawlers, seiners, gillnetters and longliners should be banned from the Sea of Cortez. There is way more money to be made taking sportfisherman out for a day and it's a lot less work than hauling nets.

Here is the link to the article: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/ban-on-use-of-gillnets-made-...

Terry28 - 7-21-2016 at 05:48 PM

Laws without enforcement are only suggestions.......

BigBearRider - 7-21-2016 at 06:02 PM

Good step.

DENNIS - 7-21-2016 at 06:43 PM


Too late. Those involved in these efforts know that too, but their paycheck keeps them in the game.

KaceyJ - 7-21-2016 at 08:02 PM

Make it for the whole Sea Of Cortez , stretch it to the Revillagigedos and offshore 100 miles and they may be still able to help the marine environment.

Do it!

DENNIS - 7-21-2016 at 08:07 PM


Do away with the long-liners as well.

BigBearRider - 7-21-2016 at 08:45 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  

Too late. Those involved in these efforts know that too, but their paycheck keeps them in the game.


Why do you say it's too late?

mtgoat666 - 7-21-2016 at 10:19 PM

Quote: Originally posted by JakeinVegas  

There is way more money to be made taking sportfisherman out for a day and it's a lot less work than hauling nets.


I think you'll need some real statistics to back up that statement that sports fishing makes more money than commercial fishing in the SOC!

btw, i am not for or against commercial fishing, i just want truthiness! (and managed commercial fishing)

mtgoat666 - 7-21-2016 at 10:21 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BigBearRider  
Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  

Too late. Those involved in these efforts know that too, but their paycheck keeps them in the game.


Why do you say it's too late?


that vacquita is past hope of saving. there are only 30 left, not enough to recover in the face of existing pressures. might as well barbecue them so of few of us can say we knew what they tasted like!

tastes like chicken?

güero - 7-21-2016 at 10:51 PM

Quote: Originally posted by JakeinVegas  
The Mexican government just announced a permanent ban on gillnet fishing in selected areas in the Northern Sea of Cortez. This is in response to protecting the Vaquita and Totoaba but I hope this mentality continues to spread and that more people look to the future.

I love to see responsible fisheries management like what I have read about in Bahia Asuncion. These are local fisherman who recognize that they must conserve resources if they want the sea to take care of their families in the future.

As far as I am concerned the trawlers, seiners, gillnetters and longliners should be banned from the Sea of Cortez. There is way more money to be made taking sportfisherman out for a day and it's a lot less work than hauling nets.

Here is the link to the article: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/ban-on-use-of-gillnets-made-...

güero - 7-21-2016 at 10:53 PM

Si como no!!!!! ha,ha,ha

Ay! ajaaaaaaaaa........:biggrin:

dtbushpilot - 7-21-2016 at 11:09 PM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  
Quote: Originally posted by BigBearRider  
Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  

Too late. Those involved in these efforts know that too, but their paycheck keeps them in the game.


Why do you say it's too late?


that vacquita is past hope of saving. there are only 30 left, not enough to recover in the face of existing pressures. might as well barbecue them so of few of us can say we knew what they tasted like!

tastes like chicken?



Starkist just isn't the same since they went "Dolphin Free"....

chuckie - 7-22-2016 at 03:00 AM

Thats pretty sick

cj5orion - 7-22-2016 at 04:09 AM

so.... how do we find out where these "selected areas" might be ????

DENNIS - 7-22-2016 at 07:19 AM


The census numbers are inexact, but 100 is the last amount I've seen. Given that the fifty females only reproduce once ever two years, their rate of species replenishment won't keep up with death by natural causes. They are a doomed species.
Blame it all on the horny Chinese lust for Totuava bladders to improve virility.



.

[Edited on 7-22-2016 by DENNIS]

Lee - 7-22-2016 at 08:31 AM

Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  

Blame it all on the horny Chinese lust for Totuava bladders to improve virility.
[Edited on 7-22-2016 by DENNIS]


Yes, ignorant Chinese and Japanese, and more so, the ignorant Mexicans who allow the nets to be used.

Ban on gill nets in Mexico? Laughable.

chuckie - 7-22-2016 at 08:37 AM

Seems like we have heard all this "Ban" stuff many times...I cant remember anyone paying much attention to it...Sad but true....

alacran - 7-22-2016 at 09:37 AM

laws without effective enforcement are useless, in Mexico and the USA.

JakeinVegas - 7-22-2016 at 10:16 AM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  
Quote: Originally posted by JakeinVegas  

There is way more money to be made taking sportfisherman out for a day and it's a lot less work than hauling nets.


I think you'll need some real statistics to back up that statement that sports fishing makes more money than commercial fishing in the SOC!

btw, i am not for or against commercial fishing, i just want truthiness! (and managed commercial fishing)


I should have been more specific. I am talking about local fisherman using pangas not the big corporate interests. The big fellas are making loads of money by raping the oceans. My comment was geared more towards small family owned operations. For instance, if two or three locals go out and lay gill nets in the evening and come back the following morning and they harvest 100 fish. They then take them to a wholesaler and sell them. How much money do they actually make from those 100 fish? By fishing in this method they have indiscriminately harvested fish from a given area regardless of species or sexual maturity and the opportunity to reproduce.

Now contrast this with the same guys taking out two pangas with a couple of gringos each who will limit out after less than twenty fish per boat. The sportfisherman may even release quite a few of the fish that they catch and will often give some of the fish to the captains for their families to eat. Sportfishing preserves the resource for another day and allows your grandchildren to have the same lifestyle if they so choose.

If they keep up the gillnetting around their local reefs and inlets it wipes out everything young and old. Each year they move farther and farther from their home port for less and less fish. Pretty soon all you have is stories to tell your grandchildren of how things used to be.

BigBearRider - 7-22-2016 at 05:20 PM

Quote: Originally posted by DENNIS  

The census numbers are inexact, but 100 is the last amount I've seen. Given that the fifty females only reproduce once ever two years, their rate of species replenishment won't keep up with death by natural causes. They are a doomed species.
Blame it all on the horny Chinese lust for Totuava bladders to improve virility.
[Edited on 7-22-2016 by DENNIS]


I hope you are wrong. I don't agree that they are necessarily doomed. If there are 100 left, I would think there is hope if appropriate action is taken. Whether that action will be taken is the question.

The California condor went (virtually?) extinct in the wild at some point, but was bred in captivity and released. There are now a few hundred of them in the wild. While imperfect, it's an analogy. Undoubtedly, there are other examples. I recall reading about a subspecies of rhino in Africa where there is only one or two left of each sex and they are being guarded from poachers. On safari in Tanzania, I recall seeing armed park rangers guarding some rhinos for similar reasons.

There are plenty of knowledgeable people who are not giving up, and are actively trying to do something, including the Sea Shepherd people. I think it's unfortunate to assume defeat before it's over.

woody with a view - 7-22-2016 at 05:31 PM

who raises Totuaba in captivity? end of discussion.....

BigBearRider - 7-22-2016 at 06:00 PM

Quote: Originally posted by woody with a view  
who raises Totuaba in captivity? end of discussion.....


I was talking about Vaquita, but you seem to raise an interesting question about raising Totoaba.

If Totoaba were farm raised, it should depress the prices and make poaching less attractive and thereby kill fewer Vaquita.

UABC has a program raising Totoaba:

http://mexicoperspective.com/Baja-California-restoration-pro...

"Agency director Matías G. Arjona Rydalch said the population restoration program likely will involve the Autonomous University of Baja California marine science department in Ensenada, which is involved in a program involving the reproduction and repopulation of the totoaba."

UABC website indicating they've been developing a program since 1994:

http://oceanologia.ens.uabc.mx/~ubp/LATOTOABAsucultivo.html

They say they have released 10,000 Totoaba in the Sea of Cortez.

These guys in La Paz have a hatchery and say they're also interested in raising Totoaba:

http://www.earthoceanfarms.com/en/

motoged - 7-22-2016 at 09:56 PM

Quote: Originally posted by woody with a view  
who raises Totuaba in captivity? end of discussion.....


Woody,
Waddya mean "end of discussion"...I got three in the bathtub :lol:

DENNIS - 7-23-2016 at 06:55 AM


One would have to question the Chinese about the efficacy of farm raised Totuava bladder in matters of virility. Confucious may not approve.
The Chinese are the high paying consumers that drive the netters and poachers.