BajaNews
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Loggerheads and crackheads in Baja
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/ar...
Peter Aldhous
September 24, 2006
A decade ago, when Wallace J. Nichols first showed up at Isla Magdalena, on the Pacific coast of Baja California, it was a depressing scene. He
counted about 240 dead turtles washed up along the beach.
Most were loggerheads (Caretta caretta), which had begun their days on nesting beaches in Japan. About 300 turtles still wash up each year; when we
visit Isla Magdalena in early August, there is another carcass to haul to one of the "turtle cemeteries" beneath the dunes. By working with local
fishermen, Nichols and graduate student Hoyt Peckham of UC Santa Cruz, have found out why this slaughter is happening and how to reduce it. The
problem is that a burgeoning drug trade in the area may be undoing their good work.
Through radio-tracking and aerial surveys, Nichols and Peckham have shown that juvenile and immature loggerheads congregate in a spot just off the
Baja coast, where they feed mostly on swimming red crabs. The area is also frequented by small fishing boats, which set gill nets for halibut and lay
long lines with multiple hooks for sharks. Both snare loggerheads, and this kills many more turtles than the industrial-scale fisheries in Hawaii,
which are closely regulated to reduce encounters with migrating turtles.
It does not have to be this way. Working with Peckham and Nichols, gill-net fishermen from the nearby village of Puerto López Mateos have found they
get better catches if they stay within 8 miles of the shore, away from the turtle hot spot. Most fishermen from this village are now doing so.
López Mateos is only one of several villages on this stretch of coast, and elsewhere it is harder to engage with the fishermen. The main problem is an
epidemic of crack cocaine and methamphetamine abuse, fed into these communities by drug traffickers who use the villages as stopovers. "Fishermen are
really unlikely to think about sustainable seafood if their main concern is their next fix," says Nichols.
Just down the coast, at Puerto San Carlos, we talk with an abalone poacher who helps Nichols with his turtle monitoring. He says his village is going
down an "ugly road." Of his friends from school, he can count on one hand those who are not using drugs. In some communities, 80 percent of fishermen
are addicted, Nichols says.
Nichols fears for the impact the drugs trade is having both on the turtles and his Mexican friends. "Clearly, the major concern is the health of the
people we work with," he says. "But secondarily, there's a big impact on efforts to conserve and manage natural resources."
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Cypress
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Sad story.
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FARASHA
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WHAT A SHAME! 
Anything happen to get the situation better?
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MrBillM
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Addicts
The number one societal problem we face in the Western World is that of illegal drug usage. It permeates every aspect of our daily lives.
Those in the "Legalization" camp continually spout the nonsense that doing so would eliminate the violent crime that is associated with illegal use.
While that "might" be true, it would exacerbate the problems associated with usage itself and create a far more hazardous society than we now face.
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jerry
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im defenatly have been against the legalizing of hard drugs however after finding out that rehab isnt working and that acually less then 4%stay clean
im just about to change my mind perhaps if we gave then all they wanted?? maybe just i little too much it would show just how bad they really are and
let the problem solve itself instead of coddelling them?
i had a renter who i later found out has been throu rehab 3 times the state took her kids away and took care of them then paid her rent utilitys while
she was in rehab and continuied to pay them plus money for the 5 months after so she didnt stressout got her kids back and then it all started over
again the state has been buying her drugs for about 4 years now she knows how to play the system and its easyer then quiting drugs
i expect she will od one day and solve that problem and cause another for her kids
jerry and judi
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wilderone
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With all the changes in Baja in development, paved roads, a few conservation projects, etc. why are the glaring social needs being ignored? ok - dumb
question, because it's obvious. Answer: the government (local police) turns a blind eye because they profit from the illegality of the poaching, drug
running, and resultant petty crimes for cash and goods to fuel drug addiction.
This Baja is not the Baja I want to visit. The above article should be distributed far and wide - in every fishing mag, travel mag, travel club, etc.
to (1) warn people that they are entering such a locale; (2) to stay away and not engage in any business (fishing, whale watching, camping) because
any charges paid will be used for drugs.
I intend to send reprints of this article to many Baja, CA and Mexican agencies to let them know that we know, and now that THEY know, they better do
something.
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Dave
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Good plan!
| Quote: | Originally posted by jerry
im just about to change my mind perhaps if we gave then all they wanted?? maybe just i little too much it would show just how bad they really are
and let the problem solve itself instead of coddelling them?
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Better that they would all OD and die.
As long as we could isolate them from the rest of society... Then let them choke on the stuff.
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Bob H
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Dave
Better that they would all OD and die.
As long as we could isolate them from the rest of society... Then let them choke on the stuff. |
That would be "banishment". It could work.
The SAME boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you are made of NOT the circumstance.
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: | Originally posted by wilderone
With all the changes in Baja in development, paved roads, a few conservation projects, etc. why are the glaring social needs being ignored? ok - dumb
question, because it's obvious. Answer: the government (local police) turns a blind eye because they profit from the illegality of the poaching, drug
running, and resultant petty crimes for cash and goods to fuel drug addiction.
This Baja is not the Baja I want to visit. The above article should be distributed far and wide - in every fishing mag, travel mag, travel club, etc.
to (1) warn people that they are entering such a locale; (2) to stay away and not engage in any business (fishing, whale watching, camping) because
any charges paid will be used for drugs.
I intend to send reprints of this article to many Baja, CA and Mexican agencies to let them know that we know, and now that THEY know, they better do
something. |
Don't blame the corrupt police without blaming the gringo's appetite that keeps the drug trade so healthy.
Before you spread misinformation and boycott all of the local businesses, you might stop to think if the article is accurate. Based on the people I
have met in fish camps, I think the article exagerates a wee bit.
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Dave
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob H
That would be "banishment". |
No, it would be:
Locking them up in a big cage and throwing the dope over the fence. Kinda like ultimate fighting/wrestling. It could be a PPV event. I'd pay to see
it.
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jerry
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dam i never thought that my idea would be picked up by people that would turn it into a sick sport expand on it and to feed there own fetish for a
pound of flesh creating another addiction feeding on the public
as you sow so shall you reap
jerry and judi
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Sharksbaja
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DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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MrBillM
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Nothing New.
Probably more than 15 years ago, "60 Minutes" on CBS did a segment on the Drug trade and interviewed a convicted smuggler in Federal Prison. The most
interesting part of the interview was where he described being CAUGHT on the ground by the Mexican Army. It turned out to be the best thing that
could have happened. As a result, in exchange for a percentage, the Mexican General made sure that his Landing and pickup areas were secured.
The statement has been made that we shouldn't be so quick to criticize the corrupt police officials for what is a customer-related problem. BS. The
Army and the Law Enforcement officials should be expected to conduct themselves on a level above the average individual. That they sometimes
(frequently in the Third-World) don't is a given, but there is NO excuse for that behavior.
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Cypress
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Everytime the drug lifestyle is mentioned, the word "Road Kill" whispers in my ear.
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