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Sportsfishing Association of California
1084 Bangor St.
San Diego, CA 92106
Dear Bob:
I got your email last night and first want to make the following
two points. I then want to figure out how best we can work
with Mexico in the development of their Management Plan for
the Islands.
1.- Sportfishing at the Islands: Sea Watch has always said
how important it was to have all sports fisherman out there
as eyes. It was the first and last thing we told Sec. Santiago
Creel, "Don’t close the Islands to sportsboats".
Just read our letter to him. He saw the problem with his
own eyes as he watched the longliner working at Benedicto.
He knows how important it is to have sportsboats at the
Islands. He actually went to Profepa with an open mind about
sportsboats at the Islands and was told in an internal letter
that under the LGEEP law it couldn’t happen, nothing
could be extracted. Profepa’s ruling came as a result
of a lawsuit filed over one year ago against several long-range
boats and yachts. Sea Watch had nothing to do with that
lawsuit, in fact I called you when it happened. We have
always said there was a major problem with illegal commercial
boats, but to my knowledge, it has only been Sea Watch and
it’s network of other boats that have been reporting
the illegal commercial boats, putting them on television
and following up to make sure that the government prosecuted
them (over 20 so far). www.seawatch.org
for details.
2.- Sea Watch Fisheries Report: Our report on the Islands
has always been represented as anecdotal. It is what the
best of the freediving hunters have seen underwater for
the last 15 years at the inner 3 Islands. We specifically
say in the report that we know nothing about Clarion, but
it doesn’t take scientific method, simple logic will
do, to tell you that 3-16 boats fishing the six square miles
of fishing area around Benedicto day after day is going
to strongly affect the local fisheries. For every fisherman
that says things are OK, we can find a long time long-range
who says the catches of wahoo, both size and quantity have
significantly decreased. It’s time to forget trying
to discredit each other and find out what will really work
at the Islands for the future.
That said, The Mexican Government will be developing the
Biosphere Management Plan. They will be doing it within their
existing environmental laws, using their Institutions of Investigation,
input from society, the sellers of services at the Islands,
etc. They will be soliciting input from all user groups and
in the end they will come up with a consensus as to what activities
will be allowed in the biosphere. Hopefully we can work closely
with them on stock assessments, tagging programs, financial
and environmental impacts of user groups, etc. If the data
gathered shows the biosphere will support a fishery, that
it will be financially beneficial and that it will be sustainable
there may be a good chance of a fishery being reestablished
Rather than try to drive a wedge between user groups, how
about working together and offering to help Mexico develop
some of the important parts of the Management Plan, like continuing
stock assessments, tagging programs, financial impacts of
user groups, etc.
Stock Assessment: Sea Watch has been working with several
scientists, some have worked on pelagic fish sampling in Mexico.
They are helping develop a sampling protocol for measuring
pelagic fish at the Islands. The one most directly involved
is Salvador Jorgensen, (sjjorgensen@ucdavis.edu).
If Mexico will let us help and since you don’t agree
with our figures anyway, how about SAC requesting permission
from Mexico to get involved with scientists, freedivers, and
photographers and offering to do some or all of stock assessment
work at the Islands? It is important to get good baseline
data immediately after the Islands have closed and then to
monitor changes in populations over the next months and years.
Without that data it will be hard to justify an ongoing fisheries
program. I’m sure there are lots of freedivers that would
look forward to helping out and being part of the solution.
Tagging fish: There is no better group than fishermen for
tagging fish. We have been working on a wahoo tagging program
with Heidi Dewar and have applied to the Mexican Government
to start this tagging program at the Islands. We have developed
a technique for tagging wahoo with a speargun that works very
well. I would think you could involve a lot of Southern California
fishermen willing to help in a tagging only (wahoo and tuna)
program at the Islands. Tags could also be put on by the same
divers doing stock assessment. If it were true that the Islands
were not only a breeding ground, which we think we know (see
attached tagging program), but that the Island stocks supplied
wahoo to the banks around the southern Baja, the implications
for sound management are tremendous.
As I’m sure you know, Mexico wants input from all interested
user groups. The people who know and utilize the Islands most,
need to be involved. That certainly includes SAC boats, their
captains and crews and the freediving hunters that have been
diving there for the last 15 -20 years. It will be to our
benefit and to the benefit of the Revillagigedo Islands to
work together with the Mexican Government in developing a
comprehensive management plan. Barbara Gomez Morin who is
the Director of Sea Watch in Mexico has spent the last weeks
in Mexico City talking with the various agencies involved
with the Islands and with the management plan. She has a good
understanding of what’s going on there and she understands
all sides of the issue. If you would like to talk with her
please contact her at barbara@cabotel.com.mx.
I’ll be out of the country for a few days, but would
like to hear your comments. I’m reachable via the same
email.
Regards,
Mike McGettigan
Founder, Sea Watch
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