Eyes on the Water

A citizen observer witnessed fisherman illegally gillnetting inshore reefs and throwing harpoons at threatened mobula rays at Isla Espiritu Santo, La Paz, BCS, Mexico.

The image is from page 62 of the “DIARIO OFICIAL”, SEMARNAT – 21 January, 2015. The first highlighted line refers to the ban of the use of nets and longlines on coral reefs. The second highlighted area relates to the ban in the act of divers using compressed air and spears or spearguns to extract fish.

Since 2009, a ban on the netting of inshore reefs that have coral on them was approved by “El Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales” (SEMARNAT) – (translates to “The Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources”). Five years later, the new law was officially published by the government agency in the “Diario Oficial”.

The two main types of gillnets are set and drift as shown here. When used in shallower water such as on inshore reefs, there is little room for escape for many marine animals.

Despite the fact that this law has been in publication for over two years now, bandit fishermen are still netting inshore reefs inhabited by both hard and soft corals often physically damaging the reefs corals in the process as well as removing keystone reef species, such as parrotfish, that are vital to the overall health of these socioeconomic habitats. Parrotfishes are made up of a group of over 90 species of fishes that collectively play a vital role in keeping the algae on the reefs in balance. They also play a significant role in bioerosion, a process whereby marine animals break down coral, rocks, shells and other hard substrates, forming the sand on the world’s beaches.

On May 8, 2017, Captain Zack Pilak of the vessel “Front Row” witnessed and documented illegal gillnetting on the inshore reef at the Salt Pond, Isla Espiritu Santo. In the photo Captain Zack looks on as the illegal fishermen retrieve their gillnet from across the beach at The Salt Pond. The name of the boat was “Rodriguez XIII” and it was seen stretching a gillnet across the span of the beach. Zack then watched the boat crew pull in their nets before leaving the scene.

Often, the gillnets are stretched over large areas of reef and using noise to create panic, the fish are driven towards the nets. Once the fish come into contact with the gillnet, they are trapped by their gills and become entangled. Gillnets are indiscriminate killers of much marine life including threatened sea turtles, sharks, dolphins, whales and sea birds.

Just one day later, another two pangas were seen illegally gillnetting the inshore reefs at Isla San Francisco, Espiritu Santo by Sea Watch in Mexico. They were both Rodriguez boats, Rodriguez VII and the other couldn’t be determined.

Just minutes after the photos were taken, a drone was launched over the scene to obtain the aerial photographs below.

Below is a short video Captain Zack made to share with Sea Watch due his concerns about the unsustainable fishing practices he observed and the detrimental impact such activities will have on the future health of the Sea of Cortez.

Note: In the video, Zack states he saw the fishermen “throwing harpoons at manta rays”. They were actually of the mobula ray genus, close relatives of manta rays, some species of which are listed as either “Near Threatened”, “Vulnerable” or “Endangered” on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) red-list of threatened species.

Whilst fishing for mobula rays isn’t illegal in Mexican waters, it probably should be given the conservation status of the genus.

Thanks to Captain Zack Pilak for raising awareness about these events.

“Eyes on the Water” is an initiative directed by "Espíritu Santo es parte de ti" to use the local boating community to report illegal or suspicious fishing activities they encounter. If like Zack, you are a concerned boater, guide or tourist that spends time in the waters around La Paz Bay and the Espiritu Santo archipelago, then we need your help. You can contact us here.

May 16, 2017

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