gnukid
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Action is required to protect Espiritu Santo today!
http://islaespiritusanto.org/
Action is required to protect Espiritu Santo today!
Please visit the link and send a note via the form.
The DRAFT management plan for Isla Espiritu Santo requires protection of the ecological integrity of the marine environment with the sustainable use
of the fisheries resource. The plan documents the declines of fisheries, which is due primarily to the ongoing use of gill nets, yet the plan allows
those same gill nets to remain within the protected area on inshore reefs around the island!
In fact, this plan offers no substantive decrease in fishing effort, gear types used, nor areas fished and therefore, is not consistent with the
plan’s vision to protect and restore the marine ecosystem. As a result, this plan guarantees further fisheries degradation and will do further damage
to the recreation and tourism economy of La Paz.
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Bajatripper
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Registered: 3-20-2010
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| Quote: | Originally posted by gnukid
http://islaespiritusanto.org/
Action is required to protect Espiritu Santo today!
Please visit the link and send a note via the form.
The DRAFT management plan for Isla Espiritu Santo requires protection of the ecological integrity of the marine environment with the sustainable use
of the fisheries resource. The plan documents the declines of fisheries, which is due primarily to the ongoing use of gill nets, yet the plan allows
those same gill nets to remain within the protected area on inshore reefs around the island!
In fact, this plan offers no substantive decrease in fishing effort, gear types used, nor areas fished and therefore, is not consistent with the
plan’s vision to protect and restore the marine ecosystem. As a result, this plan guarantees further fisheries degradation and will do further damage
to the recreation and tourism economy of La Paz. |
I agree with your concern, kid, and wish there was something that could be done. The problem at Espiritu Santo boils down to what to do with the
fishermen who have been using that resource since the days before it was a protected area. A few of them have been fishing there since the 1960s and
their fathers before them. The government has tried on several occasions over the years--even before it was a protected area--to be rid of them, but
the fishermen have enough political clout in local politics to make a rukus that can't be ignored.
That said, I know some of those men personally and know they realize it's only a matter of time before they are forced to abandone the place.
There most certainly is but one side to every story: the TRUTH. Variations of it are nothing but lies.
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Pescador
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Registered: 10-17-2002
Location: Baja California Sur
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They said the same thing about the Florida coast and that no one would be able to make a living anymore if they did away with the nets, but the
government did a one time buy out of the nets and then strongly enforced the ban. Within a very short period of time things came pretty much back.
The same thing could happen here if they would just deal with the problem instead of running away. Because I live in a fishing village and have daily
contact with the pangueros, I can tell you clearly that most do not support the netting and it is only a small proportion of fishermen who would not
get totally behind the net ban. The big issue is enforcement which costs a lot of money. If PESCA really splits from SAGARPA this year as planned,
there promises to be a different approach to the whole fisheries program.
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Bajatripper
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Pescador
Because I live in a fishing village and have daily contact with the pangueros, I can tell you clearly that most do not support the netting and it is
only a small proportion of fishermen who would not get totally behind the net ban. |
Just out of curiousity, what would these fishermen use instead of chinchorros? The fishermen I've interviewed were pretty reliant on that piece of
equipment and I don't see any legal means of replacing the catches they get with it--which, obviously, is the problem.
On the other hand, I've had many fishermen tell me they all fish in a sustainable manner (using chinchorros). The problem, they've assured me, is that
everyone else is overfishing. A couple even mentioned that the real problem was tourists who spear fish at night. Boy, now those tourists
must eat a lot of fish!
The point is that I think, sometimes, fishermen tell us what they think we want to hear.
There most certainly is but one side to every story: the TRUTH. Variations of it are nothing but lies.
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Pescador
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Registered: 10-17-2002
Location: Baja California Sur
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My best friend is a Mexican Panguero and he constantly gets into rather heated discussions with his brother who is the most proficient netter in the
area. He confronts him constantly with his big hauls of yellowtail which sometimes amounts to over 10 tons per haul. He knows that when a big haul
happens, it is money out of his pocket and fish that will no longer have a chance to reproduce. They haul big amounts of these fish in during the
spring season which is when they are especially full of eggs and feeding close to the rocks.
Now the guys that use the chinchorros also use handlines, dive, use simbras (long lines) and floats with hooks underneath. I am convinced the idea
that they only use chinchorros is not very accurate as they use whatever is working at the moment.
Both the gill nets and especially the smaller mesh enclosure nets are very detrimental. Now that they put divers over the side to move the nets into
the center, they take everything that swims including parrot fish, trigger fish, even Seargant Majors if they are large enough. So now the rocky
areas around San Marcos Island where we dive to find a few scallops and the like are turning into vast wastelands because everything is getting
stripped.
I contend that if the nets were outlawed and enforced, then they would adapt to using hook and line, simbras, and the like. Some will be aware of the
need to save a few fish for their grandchildren, because I hear that discussion a lot at the docks and around fiestas and gatherings. Most of the
netters seem to be a little different breed and live fast and hard when the catch is good, and when the big catches happen they buy lots of beer, new
motors, and generally blow everything right away.
We have some who have tried the chinchorros but have found them to be expensive, hard to maintain over a long period of time and they have gradually
slowed down a little on their usage.
I think it is like anything else, you do what works, you are a little reluctant to change, but when it is economically non-feasible to do what you are
doing, you slowly change to something else. In our area the only fish that succumb to chinchorros are Sierra (seasonal), Corvina (Seasonal) , Halibut
(seasonal), and Yellowtail (seasonal).
Sharks, Grouper, and Baqueta are easier with Simbras.
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