gringorio
Senior Nomad
Posts: 812
Registered: 4-10-2004
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Member Is Offline
|
|
Pangueros
Eco-social issues aside, I have always admired the pangueros, the fishermen of the Sea of Cortez. At every opportunity I talk with them and try and
learn more about their lives on the Sea, their challenges and complaints. I don’t doubt for a moment that there are bad things, ecologically
speaking, happening in the Sea due to overfishing by pangueros, recreational and commercial fisheries and poor management – everyone plays a role.
But here, I simply want to focus on a dying trade, a profession that will soon disappear …
Like many stories, theirs is complicated (Take, for example, the fishermen in the Colorado River Delta region - dealing with the plight of the vaquita
and trying to fish in a biosphere reserve in a dying river delta http://www.bajatrekker.com/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=51 ).
Photographs help capture a moment in time when the idealism of their lifestyle is un-obscured by politics or ecology, at least in my mind. So, for
now, here are a few:
greg 
(all photos copyright: BajaTrekker.com)
|
|
|
Iflyfish
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3747
Registered: 10-17-2006
Member Is Offline
|
|
Thanks for the photo essay. Those are amazing Red Snapper, rare to see them that big any more.
Iflyfish
|
|
|
Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3326
Registered: 12-13-2002
Member Is Offline
Mood: Mellow
|
|
Those are fabulous Greg. Somehow very nostalgic.
carpe diem!
|
|
|
Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
Member Is Offline
|
|
Nice fish Cheech!
btw, do they keep small sharks like that?
Thanx for the pics.
[Edited on 11-29-2008 by Sharksbaja]
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
|
|
|
Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
Member Is Offline
|
|
" We have such respect for these people and hope that on the Pacific side, their future is brighter.
--a couple our very good friends and unlike some, they want life no different. "
Me too Diane,..... and why would they. Are we so selfish as to think that our way of life and standards should be theirs? Yes, and what a shame. Tho
they adhere to the old ways, I hold a soft spot for the career panguero.
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
|
|
|
Russ
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6742
Registered: 7-4-2004
Location: Punta Chivato
Member Is Offline
|
|
Just my 2˘... Most pangueros are hard working, honorable salt of the earth type folks just trying to scratch out a living. However, their numbers
appear to be dwindling at least in the Santa Rosalia to Mulége area. I wish there were co-ops here like on the Pacific side of Baja that could
regulate the fisheries. A lot of the pangueros in this area (Punta Chivato) have gone to inshore nets. I watch them pull them and see most of the fish
are tossed back, dead. It is really sad to see them work so hard for so little. And their way of life is dying a little each time they pull a net and
kill so many under size fish. I really enjoy fishing from the beach but three days ago I went out and was skunked at 5 different places. At 2 of those
beaches I talked with the local workers that said the pangueros had just been netting the whole coast line for the last two weeks. That's at least 10
boats every day along maybe 12 miles of shoreline. I don't even know what the San Bruno, San Lucas and Santa Rosalia pangueros are doing. I love the
people and the culture but hate their use of nets. Sorry if I high jack this thread the Photos are really great! Here's one I took in front of my
place.
[Edited on 11-29-2008 by Russ]
|
|
|
Lauriboats
Senior Nomad
Posts: 563
Registered: 9-6-2006
Location: Mulege/Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
Mood: Loving life in Baja
|
|
Russ,
I totally agree with you. I hate when the pangueros use their nets in front of our place on the Bay of Conception (a protected bay). This is
happening much to often, they all know that they are not supposed to be netting in the Bay. Our shore lines are littered with small dead fish.
Walking out on the jetty and taking pictures of them before they throw their nets sometimes deters them.
On the other hand, I love to watch the pangueros in Bahia Asuncion, when they pull up their lobster traps, sometimes we count 20 to 30 small ones
being thrown back into the sea. In Bahia Asuncion the co-op has been protecting their fishery for 65 years and they will most likely continue for
another 65 years.
Hopefully, they will get a clue on the Sea of Cortez side, before it is to late.
By the way, great photos!
[Edited on 11-29-2008 by Lauriboats]
[Edited on 11-29-2008 by Lauriboats]
What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
|
|
|
gringorio
Senior Nomad
Posts: 812
Registered: 4-10-2004
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Member Is Offline
|
|
I also agree with Russ and Lauri - I hate to see the fishemen setting gill nets - there is so much 'bycatch' associated with it. Destroying their own
future along with the Sea's productivity ...
And Sharks, no, they let me take a photo of the baby shark then they ripped the hook out and threw the shark overboard.
greg
|
|
|
windgrrl
Super Nomad
Posts: 1335
Registered: 9-2-2006
Member Is Offline
|
|
I, too, am concerned about good conservation ...but those pictures are amazing.
When the way comes to an end, then change. Having changed, you pass through.
~ I-Ching
|
|
|
Natalie Ann
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2819
Registered: 8-22-2003
Location: Berkeley
Member Is Offline
|
|
You know I've always liked your panguero series, Greg... but I do not remember seeing that last one. What a beautiful picture - the colors are
amazing!
Nice to see you 'round here again.
Nena
Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.
.....Oscar Wilde
|
|
|
stimbo
Nomad
Posts: 289
Registered: 3-4-2008
Location: Crowley Lake, CA
Member Is Offline
|
|
Nice photo essay Greg.
|
|
|
bajaboolie
Nomad
Posts: 277
Registered: 9-24-2007
Location: Aptos, CA/Mulege
Member Is Offline
|
|
Really like the picture of the man's hands!
Bajaboolie
|
|
|
gringorio
Senior Nomad
Posts: 812
Registered: 4-10-2004
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Member Is Offline
|
|
Thanks! Two photos are older, three are newer... I like the fisherman's hands shot too... Hard work on the Sea and under the sun ...
| Quote: | Originally posted by Natalie Ann
You know I've always liked your panguero series, Greg... but I do not remember seeing that last one. What a beautiful picture - the colors are
amazing!
Nice to see you 'round here again.
Nena |
|
|
|
Russ
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6742
Registered: 7-4-2004
Location: Punta Chivato
Member Is Offline
|
|
Sad report on one group of pangeros
Night before last a group of about 8 pangeros came in and all night made sets along the 10 or so miles of beach here. They took EVERYTHING! Small mesh
nets and lights. The morning after the local pangeros said they just fill up their boats and have an isolated location where they unload into a big
truck. Sell it to be ground up for chicken or fish feed. Everyone seems to know them and know that they move from area to area cleaning the shores
wherever they go. Totally illegal so that I'm told is why they trailer their boats out of the area they just fished to unload. They were gone by first
light. SAD! 
|
|
|
gringorio
Senior Nomad
Posts: 812
Registered: 4-10-2004
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Member Is Offline
|
|
That really sucks - I remember a couple of fishermen I talked with said they were from TJ and were so far from home (Near BLA) because they were
looking for work (better fishing). They essentially were doing the same thing - taking anything they could, but still throwing HUGE AMOUNTS of
bycatch over board 'dead and dying' as the saying goes.
By metaphor - we all like to take care of our own front yard, but if its not yours, who cares? Unless you're that nosey neighbor ;0). In terms of
the environment, I like being a nosey neighbor...
But if the system is corrupt how can anything ever change without vigilantism or revolution? 
greg 
| Quote: | Originally posted by Russ
Night before last a group of about 8 pangeros came in and all night made sets along the 10 or so miles of beach here. They took EVERYTHING! Small mesh
nets and lights. The morning after the local pangeros said they just fill up their boats and have an isolated location where they unload into a big
truck. Sell it to be ground up for chicken or fish feed. Everyone seems to know them and know that they move from area to area cleaning the shores
wherever they go. Totally illegal so that I'm told is why they trailer their boats out of the area they just fished to unload. They were gone by first
light. SAD! |
|
|
|
tripledigitken
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4848
Registered: 9-27-2006
Member Is Offline
|
|
Greg,
Very nice series of shots. Thanks for posting.
Ken
|
|
|
Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
Member Is Offline
Mood: undecided
|
|
gringorio, Thanks for the pics.
|
|
|
EMAM
Nomad
Posts: 149
Registered: 2-2-2008
Member Is Offline
|
|
#2 & #3 are both Book Worthy! Outstanding job on the photography!
I like the story too, sad, but I love pictures so much more when they are accompanied by a story, even if it happens to be a sorry one.
Thanks for sharing
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
