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The following interviews have been done with fishermen in
Mexico and in the US. The fishermen that have been out working
in the seas for the last 20 to 30 years are often seeing a
completely different ocean than are the scientists and administrators
of the NMFS and the eight Regional Fish Counsels that control
the US fisheries, the Department of PESCA and the INP (Instituto
National de PESCA) that control fisheries and fisheries science
in Mexico. The fish management and science in both countries
are and have been controlled by those favoring commercial
interests. The Highly Migratory Species Advisory Subpanel
now considering longlines in California has 13 members 9 are
from the commercial fishing Industry.
Interviews
The people who fish daily in the ocean know when sealife
disappears. They are constantly using their eyes for life
signs in the ocean to tell where the fish are. When those
life signs disappear it is the fishermen, not the scientists
who know it first. In the last 25 years the scientists and
fish managers have continually got it wrong. We have to put
more faith in the emperical data that our fishermen are giving
us and take back what's left of our ocean resources from those
that will continue the destructive fish management policies
of the past.
Francisco Cota Ruiz |
Q: What
is you name please?
A: Francisco Cota Ruiz (captain of sport fishing boat)
Q: Would you say that there has been a general decrease
in the number of marlin caught in the last 5 years?
A: Definitely, you can ask any captain or deckhand
and he’ll tell you. Independent of the fact that
there are fewer fish caught, we’re having to go much
farther from port to find them.
Q: In the last five to 10 years, what percentage has
the catch decreased?
A: I’d say about 40%. |
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Juan Jose Arce |
Q: What is your name?
A: Juan Jose Arce (captain of sport fishing boat)
Q: How many years have you been involved in the sport
fishing industry?
A: About 15 years.
Q: Could you say if the catch has decreased, say from
10 years ago?
A: It’s definitely gone down, and by a lot. I
think everyone has noticed that. As I remember, it’s
been about five years since we’ve had any fishing
that you could consider excellent fishing.
Q: How much has it decreased?
A: Well, I believe it’s been by about 45% or 50%.
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Roberto Sandes |
Q: What is your name?
A: Roberto Sandes (captain of sport fishing boat)
Q: How many years have you been involved in sport fishing?
A: 15 years.
Q: In those 15 years, have you noticed any decrease
in the capture of the species you fish for?
A: Yes, yes, I have noticed that the catch has gone
down.
Q: Can you tell me how much it has decreased? For
example, if you caught 100 fish before, how many do you
catch now?
A: Well, if we caught three before, we’re lucky
to catch one now. Its decreased a lot, a lot more than
50%. |
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Esteban Ortiz |
Q: What
is your name?
A: Esteban Ortiz (captain/ sport fishing)
Q: Sr. Ortiz, how long have you been involved in sport
fishing?
A: For about 22 years.
Q: In the last 10 years have you noticed a decrease
in the catch? What percentage?
A: In just the last 3 years, the catch has decreased
50 – 60%.
Q: What do you think has been the cause?
A: It’s said there are pirate ships. Who knows? |
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Juan Perez |
Q: What
is your name?
A: Juan Perez (sport fishing)
Q: How long have you been involved with sport fishing?
A: 25 years.
Q: have you noticed a decrease in the catch in, say,
in the last 5 to 10 years? What percentage has it
decreased?
A: I’ve seen about a 50% decrease. Especially in
the marlin catch.
Q: And what do you believe to be the cause?
A: Many times boats come from outside the area. |
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Jose Talamantes |
Q: What
is your name?
A: Jose Talamantes Romero (commercial fisherman)
Q: Where are you from?
A: From here, from La Noria.
Q: How long have you been fishing?
A: Approximately 6 years.
Q: Do you believe there’s been a decrease in
the catch?
A: Well look, of course I do. A lot of boats come
here to fish. They come from Topo, Guaymas and La Paz,
and they take many tons of fish. |
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Miguel Cota de Agua Verde |
Q: What
is your name?
A: Miguel Cota from Agua Verde (commercial fishing)
Q: Have you been fishing many years? Do you feel there
is a decrease in the catch?
A: Well, yes, and yes, there has been a decrease.
Q: What do you think might be the cause?
A: Well, there is a lot of spear fishing and netting
(with "chinchorro") going on. |
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Fernando Reyes
Castro Navarro
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Q: What
are your names?
A: Fernando Reyes and Castro Navarro (commercial fishing)
Q: In the last year, have you seen a decease in the
number of fish you’ve caught or is it the same? What
do you feel about that?
A: A lot of boats come here from outside, from Guaymas,
Mazatlan and Sinaloa. They do effect the fishing because
they work with nets (chinchorros). The problem with that
is that they get stuck on the bottom in the rocks. They
leave them there and they keep killing the fish.
Q: You two remember how the fishing was some 15 years
ago? Do you think the catch has decreased?
A: 15 years ago there were a lot of fish, great quantities.
There were times that in this bay alone 15 to 20 tones
of fish were caught: jurel, sierra and other species.
Q: If you were to say what percentage it has decreased,
what would you say?
A: Some 70 to 80%. |
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Valentín Romero Murillo |
Q: Here
we are talking to the delegate of Cortes, whose name is
Valentine Romero Murrillo. Would you say that there has
been a decrease in the catch of fish over the last 10
years.? How can you compare those numbers to those of
today?
A: It has decreased at least 80%. One of the principal
problems we have here is that there are no fish and we
all live from fishing.
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Pantaleón Calderón |
Q: What
is your name?
A: Pantaleon Calderon (commercial fishing)
Q: Sr. Calderon, how do you feel the fishing is of
late? Has it changed much in the last 10 years?
A: Fish are very scarce now. We can’t even cover
the cost of our operations.
Q: What percentage has the catch decreased?
A: Well, in 10 days we take one ton now. Ten years
ago we could take out 4 tons in 3 or 4 days. |
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Manuel Valdez |
Q: What
is your name?
A: Manuel Valdez (commercial fishing)
Q: Do you remember how the fishing was some years
back when you were younger?
A: Yes, very well. You can’t compare now with
then. Now you have to work hard just to eat. |
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Francisco Javier de la Toba |
Q: What
is you name?
A: Francisco Javier de la Toba. (commercial fishing)
Q: Do you feel that you are catching fewer fish in the
last 10 to 15 years?
A: Yes, the catch is much smaller now.
Q: And why do you think this is so?
A: There are a lot of people fishing now. They use
nets ("chinchorro") that get stuck on the bottom
and they leave them there. |
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Cruz de la Toba Amador |
Q: What
is your name?
A: Cruz de la Toba Amador (commercial fishing)
Q: How many years have you been fishing?
A: About 35 years in Tambabiche.
Q: Do you remember when you were younger, say ten
years ago, did you catch more fish or less fish?
A: At first, there were a lot of fish. Now there is
almost nothing.
Q: And why do you think this has happened?
A: I don’t know.
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Rafael Iglesias |
Q: What
is your name?
A: Rafael Iglesias (commercial fishing)
Q: Sr. Iglesias, how long have you been fishing for
a living?
A: About 50 years.
Q: Five or ten years ago how much did you catch?
A: In ten days we caught 12 to 14 tons. There was
a lot.
Q: Since when have you noticed a decrease?
A: Since about 10 years ago, more or less. Since they
started fishing with nets ("chinchorros").
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Javier Magaña |
Q: What
is your name?
A: Javier Magaña (commercial fishing)
Q: Javier, many say the fish catch is way down. What
do you say?
A: Yes, it has gone down a lot. Because they’re
using a lot of nets ("chinchorro").
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Manuel Salvador Alvarez |
Q: What
is your name?
A: Manuel Salvador Alvarez (Commercial fishing)
Q: Ten years ago what was your daily quota of fish?
A: They caught a lot of fish here. Mainly, sierra,
cabrilla and red snapper.
Q: What percentage has the catch decreased? If you caught
10 tons per day before, how much are you catching now?
A: About 200 kilos, maybe 300 kilos. Above all, the problem
is the nets (chinchorros).
Q: The problem is that they get stuck and are left on
the bottom, where they keep on killing the fish. |
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Amador Talamantes |
Q: What
is your name?
A: Amador Talamantes (commercial fishing)
Q: How long have you been fishing?
A: I’ve been fishing here in Agua Verde about 10
yrs.
Q: In a normal week of working how many tons do you
catch?
A: I’ll tell you about 2 years ago a boat (panga)
took 200 or 300 kilos per day. Today, 10 or 15 boats working
together take that much in one day. |
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Mónico Galbán |
Q: Here
we are with Monico Galban in Liguí. Monico, how
many years have you been fishing here? (Commercial fishing)
A: About 10 years.
Q: In those 10 years have you seen a decrease in the
number of fish you catch?
A: Well, yes, like everything it’s getting less
and it's due to the fact that there are so many boats
now. |
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Abraham Marquez |
Abraham Marquez
Q: How long have you been fishing?
A: For about 12 years.
Q: During the past 12 years have you noticed a decrease
in the amount of fish you've been catching?
A: Yeah, during the fishing season the fish seem to
be scarce. For example, tuna, which used to be most abundant,
aren't coming around anymore as in other years.
Q: Why not do you think? What's the cause?
A: It depends, because the tuna fishing boats get
out there farther.
Q: Have you seen large commercial tuna fishing boats
fishing in this zone?
A: At times we can see them close to the coast, and
proof of that is there have been drag-nets floating, suspended
by large buoys, miles and miles long. And, of course,
this kind of fishing affects a lot; even marlin and other
types of sea animals are trapped in these drag-nets.
Q: By what percentage has fishing decreased here?
A: By at least 30%, fish that used to come around
here to the Sea of Cortes, where once upon a time there
were fish galore, but...now is obvious that less and less
fish come around. |
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Eduardo Castro |
Eduardo
Castro
Q: In the last 20 years or shall we say ten, has there
been a noticeable decrease in fish up to the present?
A: No, not that much ,but we have noticed some changes.
Q: About what percentage has fishing decreased, if it
has at all?
A: Oh, about 20-30% I believe |
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Jesús Bañaga |
Jesús
Bañaga
Q: How long have you been fishing here Jesus?
A: For about 27-28 years, since I was 17 years old.
Q: And have you noticed since then any decrease in
the fishing that you can tell?
A: Oh yeah, by all means.
Q: Why is that?
A: Maybe because of the bait primarily, because back then
we used to fish real close by without much effort, but
now we have to go way out and most likely due to those
large shrimp fishing boats, which drag away any and every
fish around that comes their way.
Q: What about picudo fish or the larger fish, are they
still around?
A: Back then there were a ton of them, I mean a lot.
And when I would go out on my panga sport-fishing, I would
see the Japanese fishing boats way out there, dropping
lines 4-5 kilometers long or longer, with multiple hooks
attached with bait on them, trapping sharks, marlin and
many other fish and taking them away to be slaughtered.
Q: What percentage did the amount of fish decrease?
A: I estimate to about 50%, because that's a lot.
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José Cruz González |
José
Cruz González
Q: How long have you fishing?
A: 46 years.
Q: During the first few years of your fishing career,
as compared to today's fishing, have you noticed any decrease
in the number of fish you catch?
A: Oh yeah, a lot. When we used to fish for shark,
cabrilla,and pargo, there were plenty, but now with these
large commercial fishing boats taking away our product,
it is harder on us. The yachts have also done a lot of
harm by fishing los bajos (shallow water, good gathering
for fish) and slaughtering fish and just dumping overboard
the remaining pieces of fish.
Q: So, then to what percentage has the fishing decreased
since then until now?
A: To about 60%. |
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Marco Guluarte |
Marco
Guluarte
Q: How long have you been fishing here Marco?
A: 25 years.
Q: During these 25 years have you noticed a change
or a decrease in fishing?
A: There were many varieties of fish for us to fish
then. There was a lot more action, too. Fish are very
scarce now and commercial fishing has slowed down somewhat.
Back then, they used to catch shark, a lot of shark. But
today, because of the Japanese fishing boats and tuna
fishing boats we hardly ever catch a good fish to eat.
And the sad thing is that they don't care what they catch.
They simply slaughter what they consider a no-good fish
and throw it overboard. Sport-fishing has been gravely
affected by this action, to the point where marlin are
almost extinct. 25 years
ago, marlin was most abundant and sports-fishing was fun.
Tourism has also been affected because the marlin are
almost gone.
Q: To what percentage can we say the fishing has decreased?
A: I would say more than 50%. 25 years ago we didn't
face this problem and fish of all kinds were abundant,
to the extent that we didn't have to go out farther than
five or six miles and we would find plenty of fish like
picudo and dorado. That's all gone. We have to travel
30 to 40 miles out in order to do any sports-fishing,
and if you're lucky you may catch something. Of course,
25 years ago sports-fishing wasn't as popular as compared
to today. And today there are double the number of boats
fishing and there are fewer fish to catch. |
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Marco Antonio Guluarte |
Marco
Antonio Guluarte
Q: How much time have you dedicated to fishing Marco
Antonio?
A: I've been fishing for about 15 years, and fish have
decreased a lot, particularly the tasty deep sea bottom
fish, like red snapper and rock cod, Shark and other fish
- strongly due to the lack of protection and rulings against
the numerous large commercial fishing boats and their
using drag-nets indiscriminately. Some of them come from
Sinaloa state and from other nearby port towns, killing
a lot of fish and that's why fishing is low for us here.
Q: What percentage do you think fishing has decreased
to in the last 15 years?
A: I think 20% since. And I remember back when there
was a lot of huachinango fish, cabrilla and shark but
it hasn't decreased that much. I gather at least 20-30%
noticeably, because of the large shrimp fishing boats
that have come from out of state.
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Erick Briessen |
Erick
Briesen
Q: Are you a resident of La Playita?
A: Yes, I am. I live here in La Playita.
Q: How long have you been fishing?
A: I've been woking here for about 15years.
Q: In these last 15 years have you noticed that the
fishing has decreased in general as compared to other
years past?
A: Oh yeah. Many different species such as marlin,
sierra. Fishing overall is down. Many other fish are scarce
such as rooster fish and red fish like snapper, and cabrilla
have almost disappeared.
Q: What do you think is the cause?
A: Commercial over fishing and the use of drag-nets...
although I don't think sports-fishing affects things much.
However, something must be done right away to fix this
problem.
Q: By what percentage has fishing decreased in your
opinion?
A: 50%. |
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Antonio Castro |
Antonio
Castro
Q: How long have you been fishing Antonio?
A: About 7 years.
Q: During these past 7 years have you noticed or have
you heard that fishing has decreased?
A: Yes it has. Of course, it has.
Q: To what percentage more or less?
A: To at least 50%. It's bad.
Q: What's the cause do you think?
A: Maybe because there are too many boats fishing with
drag-nets and massacring all those fishes, I imagine.
Q: Has that kind of fishing affected your fishing
and your work directly?
A: Drag-nets? Yes, of course, because they grab any and
all fish and indiscriminately, even fish which are not
eatable. We only fish for sport-fish, but they don't care
what they catch, they simply drag into their nets what's
in their path and slaughter what is not usable and throw
their remains over-board. |
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Amadeo Marquez |
Amadeo
Marquez
Q: How long have you been fishing Amadeo?
A: For about 10-15 years.
Q: Have you noticed a decrease in fishing compared
to the quantity you used to catch or is it still about
the same?
A: Well, I used to fish shark commercially with my
dad and back then there was a lot of shark and we used
to catch a lot of them and slaughtered a good number of
them ourselves. But now the large fishing boats ,with
their drag-nets fishing everything, like marlin, dorado
and other fish leave us literally nothing.
Q: To what percentage has the picudo fish decreased?
A: To about 60%. The large commercial tuna fishing
boats and, of course, the Japanese fishing boats, which
take us to the cleaners, have dramatically affected our
fishing |
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Julio Castro |
Julio
Castro -
Q: What is your fishing background? What makes you a knowledgeable
source of information?
A: Since I was a small boy fishing was a great diversion
for me. I grew up with the idea of continuing to fish
throughout my childhood. When I was 16 years old I started
working at Rancho Bueno Vista, where I had the chance
to start in sportsfishing and to come to know to perfection
what it is to be a "fisherman." My first 5 years.
I was fishing exclusively in the Sea of Cortes, but due
to severe fishing problems I had to migrate to Cabo San
Lucas, where I have been for the past 14 years and fortunately
fishing has been very good to me there.
Q: How long have you been fishing in the waters you
are talking about?
A: 19 years. I fish from Cabo Falso to the Gordo Banks.
Q: Do you own your boat or fish on someone else’s?
A: I fish on a boat called "Andrea," that
belongs to Pisces Fleet.
Q: Do you keep a fishing record or log?
A: Sometimes, but they have records in the office.
Q: What percentage change have you seen in the numbers
of the following pelagic fish (striped marlin, blue marlin,
sailfish, blue sharks, mako sharks, thresher sharks, dorado,
yellowtail) in the areas you fished in the last 15 years?
A: Striped marlin, blue marlin, sailfish, dorado and shark,
have dropped 70%.
Q: Has the average size of the striped marlin caught
dropped in the last 15 years?
A: Comparing 15 year ago to today, the fish weighed
150 to 180 pounds then and now they are 90 to 100 pounds.
Q: What about the average size of the sailfish caught?
A: The same as for marlin.
Q: Give as many examples as you can of how fishing
used to be 15-20 years ago versus what it is today? Try
to quantify these examples as much as possible. We are
most interested in the pelagics mentioned above.
A: 15 years ago you found fish wherever you wanted.
Whatever you wanted to catch, you caught and there wasn't
so much useless killing of fish.
Q: Do you have to travel further today to get fish
than you did 15 years ago?
A: 15 years ago we wouldn't go out more than 10 miles,
now we sometimes have to go 35 to 40 miles out.
Q: How many marlin have you caught in your fishing
career, or in a year with an old hook in it?
A: About 20, or one a year. |
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Benito Agundez |
Benito
Agundez -
Q: What is your fishing background? What makes you
a knowledgeable source of information?
A: I started fishing approximately 20 years ago. I consider
myself a source of knowledge because of the day to day
experience I have gained. I know how the fishing was 20
years ago and how it has diminished over the years, up
until the present day.
Q: Where do you do most of your fishing?
A: I fish at the southernmost part of the Baja Peninsula
in the Sea of Cortes and Pacific Ocean.
Q: How long have you been fishing in the waters you
are talking about?
A: About 20 years. I fish about 280 days a year.
Q: Do you own your boat or fish on someone else’s?
A: The boat I fish on belongs to a company called
Barcos Piscis, (Pisces Fleet).
Q: Do you keep a fishing record or log?
A: I do keep records, but they are not exact, the
office keeps records of my catches for me.
Q: What percentage change have you seen in the numbers
of the following pelagic fish (striped marlin, blue marlin,
sailfish, blue sharks, mako sharks, thresher sharks, dorado,
yellowtail) in the areas you fished in the last 15 years?
A: I believe that striped marlin has declined 65-70%.
Blue marlin is possibly about 50% of what it was before.
Sailfish have declined even more than the blue marlin.
With dorado and tuna there not as much decline as the
aforementioned species, but they have declined considerably.
Sharks, all types of sharks, are the ones whose numbers
are most damaged; I would say that there is only 20 -25%
left of what there was before, so a decline of 75 to 80%.
Q: Has the average size of the striped marlin caught
dropped in the last 15 years? What about the average size
of the sailfish caught?
A: The weight on all species has dropped noticably,
especially the striped marlin. In past times many were
caught that were over 200 pounds. Before, sailfish weighed
100 pounds or more and now the average catch on a sailfish
is 60 to 70 pounds.
Q: Give as many examples as you can of how fishing
used to be 15-20 years ago versus what it is today? Try
to quantify these examples as much as possible. We are
most interested in the pelagics mentioned above.
A: In the different billfish species there are a lot
of differences. 15 to 20 years ago swordfish was found
in acceptable quantities, 35 to 40 per year. Today we
only see 5 or 6 per boat per year. With the other species,
such as tuna, dorado , roosterfish, etc., there have been
changes but they are not as noticable.
Q: Do you have to travel further today to get fish
than you did 15 years ago?
A: Before our work area was no more than 20 miles
from port. Today we frequently go out 35 to 40 miles.
Q: How many marlin have you caught in your fishing
career, or in a year with an old hook in it?
A: Approximately 40, the majority of which where the
type of hook we use for sportsfishing, say about 30. The
rest were the type used by longliners.
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Ricardo Agundez |
Ricardo
Agundez
Q: What is your fishing background? What makes you
a knowledgeable source of information?
A: I started 10 years ago with Pisces Fleet. During that
time I was a deck hand for one year, before stepping up
to being a captain , which I've been doing for 9 years.
I have had good and bad experiences, which I feel will
help those that will follow behind me.
Q: Where do you do most of your fishing?
A: The southern tip of B.C.S. or the southern tip
of the Baja.
Q: How long have you been fishing in the waters you
are talking about?
A: Approximately 10 to 11 years. I fish 240 to 250
days a year.
Q: Do you own your boat or fish on someone else’s?
A: I work on a boat called "Adriana I,"
which belongs to Pisces Fleet.
Q: What percentage change have you seen in the numbers
of the following pelagic fish (striped marlin, blue marlin,
sailfish, blue sharks, mako sharks, thresher sharks, dorado,
yellowtail) in the areas you fished in the last 15 years?
A: For striped marlin, a drop of 30%; blue marlin
a drop of 40%; sailfish a 70% drop; sharks of all types
a 90% drop.
Q: Has the average size of the striped marlin caught
dropped in the last 15 years?
A: About 15 years ago weights were varied, a good
sized fish would have been 160 to 180 pounds. Today a
good-sized fish is between 100 and 140 pounds.
Q: What about the average size of the sailfish caught?
A: In the past 80 to 100 pounds, now the few that
remain are from 40 to 70 pounds.
Q: Give as many examples as you can of how fishing
used to be 15-20 years ago versus what it is today? Try
to quantify these examples as much as possible. We are
most interested in the pelagics mentioned above.
A: Before fishing was very successful and plentiful
Before there were no limits as to how many marlin could
be killed and some captains killed 2 to 3 marlin per day.
Before there was no commercial exploitation. Today, we
should not only preserve certain species, but we should
do something about the sportsfishing boats that catch
fish indiscriminately and then sell their catch. Many
of these boats doing this belong to well-know and important
companies. It is not right that some of us try to preserve
marlin and other species, while others don't help us in
the slightest, killing one or as many fish as they can,
a day. It is really important that fishermen and boat
owners help each other to preserve our natural resources
and our jobs for the future. We should not make the same
mistakes, that have been made in other fishing ports.
Q: Do you have to travel further today to get fish
than you did 15 years ago?
A: Before we only had to go out 2or 3 miles. Today,
we sometimes have to go as far as 35 miles out and sometimes
we don't have any luck.
Q: How many marlin have you caught in your fishing
career, or in a year with an old hook in it?
A: About 10 a year.
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