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After 15 years, shrimp fisherman allowed back to Sea of Cortés area
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Shrimp fishing is back
The Mexican government halted shrimp fishing in northern areas of the Gulf of California because overfishing became a threat to aquatic species.
Rocky Point Mayor Alejandro Zepeda Munro It was a slow, difficult process, but we learned that by protecting the environment and diminishing short-term ambitions, we were, in fact, preserving our livelihoods in the long-run."
Posted: Friday, November 11, 2011 12:00 pm | Updated: 2:39 pm, Wed Nov 9, 2011.
By Keith Rosenblum, for Inside Tucson Business | 0 comments
PUERTO PEÑASCO, Sonora - The word "simmering" usually applies when cooking something like a seafood soup - and not the fishermen whose livelihood depends on month-long trips into high seas.
Yet, the word describes accurately the conflict that, until recently, had stunted and even paralyzed the fleet of shrimp fishermen based here and lead to street demonstrations, highway seizures and other disobedience.
That hatchet - or better yet, harpoon - has been buried thanks to the efforts of groups known more for their antipathy toward one another than any willingness to converse. The players: a Rocky Point mayor from one party, veteran fishermen from the virulent political opposition, supposedly apolitical Mexican federal ministries and international environmental organizations.
The result: Rocky Point's fleet headed out Oct. 11 for the first time in 15 years to a section of the Alto Golfo and Rio Colorado Delta Biosphere. Up to 64 vessels are being allowed to fish but only 21 at a given moment. This follows a ban imposed by the Mexican government, which sought to both protect the vaquita porpoise and prevent over-harvesting of other species.
"We made ourselves into a team, put aside a batch of other differences - and there are plenty - and went to bat for Peñasco," said Mayor Alejandro Zepeda Munro. "If this group could forge a deal, there's hope for any conflict in the world."
Until the 1970s, fishing was not merely a way of life in Rocky Point but essentially the only way of life. Except for sport fishermen and outdoors types from Arizona, who camped along unnamed beaches, there were no tourists, no full-time Americans, no anything except for the catches and the canning and freezing industries dependent on them.
The economy is more diverse today, but still ebbs according to what comes back in the shrimp vessels. Though Rocky Point is now often defined by its tourism reputation, its mainstay is shrimp whose quality is known throughout Mexico and the United States. Last year, 9,500 tons were harvested. Fishing contributes $45 million annually to the economy while tourism brings in about one third that amount, the mayor said.
"For us, environmental protection in the short-term meant loss of jobs, it was that direct of a connection," said Zepeda.
The mayor traveled regularly to Mexico City with fishermen and others to coordinate strategies with environmental groups such as Natural Resources Council.
"It was a slow, difficult process, but we learned that by protecting the environment and diminishing short-term ambitions, we were, in fact, preserving our livelihoods in the long-run," he said.
Under the arrangement, fishermen are being monitored by the Mexican Navy, the Fisheries ministry and the Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente (PROFEPA), which is Mexico's equivalent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In an interview, Mateo Lopez, president of the fishermen's association, said members had agreed to pay special taxes, carry monitors on board, practice harvesting methods that exclude accidental trapping of secondary species, use technologies approved by PROFEPA and submit to on-site audits.
Peggy Turk Boyer, a founder of Centro Intercultural de Estudios de Desiertos y Océanos (CEDO), a pioneer Rocky Point research institute, said another 90 large shrimp boats, which did not fish last year because they refused to comply with environmental impact study requirements, are going out this year "under very strict guidelines."
CEDO, whose research on the rare vaquita porpoise lead to its protection, has itself carried out an environmental impact study for 825 fishermen on small boats known as "pangas." Those fishermen have adhered to all of the new rules, she said.
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Shrimp fishing is backThe Mexican government halted shrimp fishing in northern areas of the Gulf of California because overfishing became a threat to aquatic species.
Rocky Point Mayor Alejandro Zepeda Munro It was a slow, difficult process, but we learned that by protecting the environment and diminishing short-term ambitions, we were, in fact, preserving our livelihoods in the long-run."
Posted: Friday, November 11, 2011 12:00 pm | Updated: 2:39 pm, Wed Nov 9, 2011.
By Keith Rosenblum, for Inside Tucson Business | 0 comments
PUERTO PEÑASCO, Sonora - The word "simmering" usually applies when cooking something like a seafood soup - and not the fishermen whose livelihood depends on month-long trips into high seas.
Yet, the word describes accurately the conflict that, until recently, had stunted and even paralyzed the fleet of shrimp fishermen based here and lead to street demonstrations, highway seizures and other disobedience.
That hatchet - or better yet, harpoon - has been buried thanks to the efforts of groups known more for their antipathy toward one another than any willingness to converse. The players: a Rocky Point mayor from one party, veteran fishermen from the virulent political opposition, supposedly apolitical Mexican federal ministries and international environmental organizations.
The result: Rocky Point's fleet headed out Oct. 11 for the first time in 15 years to a section of the Alto Golfo and Rio Colorado Delta Biosphere. Up to 64 vessels are being allowed to fish but only 21 at a given moment. This follows a ban imposed by the Mexican government, which sought to both protect the vaquita porpoise and prevent over-harvesting of other species.
"We made ourselves into a team, put aside a batch of other differences - and there are plenty - and went to bat for Peñasco," said Mayor Alejandro Zepeda Munro. "If this group could forge a deal, there's hope for any conflict in the world."
Until the 1970s, fishing was not merely a way of life in Rocky Point but essentially the only way of life. Except for sport fishermen and outdoors types from Arizona, who camped along unnamed beaches, there were no tourists, no full-time Americans, no anything except for the catches and the canning and freezing industries dependent on them.
The economy is more diverse today, but still ebbs according to what comes back in the shrimp vessels. Though Rocky Point is now often defined by its tourism reputation, its mainstay is shrimp whose quality is known throughout Mexico and the United States. Last year, 9,500 tons were harvested. Fishing contributes $45 million annually to the economy while tourism brings in about one third that amount, the mayor said.
"For us, environmental protection in the short-term meant loss of jobs, it was that direct of a connection," said Zepeda.
The mayor traveled regularly to Mexico City with fishermen and others to coordinate strategies with environmental groups such as Natural Resources Council.
"It was a slow, difficult process, but we learned that by protecting the environment and diminishing short-term ambitions, we were, in fact, preserving our livelihoods in the long-run," he said.
Under the arrangement, fishermen are being monitored by the Mexican Navy, the Fisheries ministry and the Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente (PROFEPA), which is Mexico's equivalent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In an interview, Mateo Lopez, president of the fishermen's association, said members had agreed to pay special taxes, carry monitors on board, practice harvesting methods that exclude accidental trapping of secondary species, use technologies approved by PROFEPA and submit to on-site audits.
Peggy Turk Boyer, a founder of Centro Intercultural de Estudios de Desiertos y Océanos (CEDO), a pioneer Rocky Point research institute, said another 90 large shrimp boats, which did not fish last year because they refused to comply with environmental impact study requirements, are going out this year "under very strict guidelines."
CEDO, whose research on the rare vaquita porpoise lead to its protection, has itself carried out an environmental impact study for 825 fishermen on small boats known as "pangas." Those fishermen have adhered to all of the new rules, she said.
