Pistoleros are Killing the bay
Pistoleros are killing the Bay of La Paz. About 6 years ago, while other methods of catching fish had rapidly declined night time spearfishing became the last productive method of killing large and profitable reef fish. 25 to 40 boats kill 3-5 tons of reef fish daily, that’s over 1000 TONS EACH YEAR. (Narrated in English) Read more
Mexico's First Citizen-Funded And Run Vigilance Program Starts
In 2007, Sea Watch with their attorney Maria Ugarte and armed with 1000s of emails from Sea Watch supporters, sponsored a new federal regulation to ban compressors (hookah gear) for any fish extraction in all Mexican waters.
The Vigilance Patrols from La Paz protect 120 miles of coastline and 6 lower gulf Islands for about $1500/week. They are worth your support!
Legal Complaints Made Against Boats Fishing Illegally
View latest August 2009 photos of Las Islotes reefs that are already benefiting from the new vigilance patrols.
Reef fish near La Paz continue their comeback thanks to OC vigilance program
Watch the Obsevatorio Ciudadano video.
La Paz markets checked for illegal fish
Maria Ugarte, Directora of Sea Watch Mexico and TV Azteca reporter interviews owners of local fish markets in La Paz for to be sure they are not selling illegal fish.
see pistoleros at work
Understand the law and report illegal fishing
How many times have you been in an anchorage and seen the pangeros come in with their hookahs and then watch them circle the edges of the bay harvesting fish by driving them into gill nets placed on the reefs or seen their boats at dusk and heard the compressors running at night as they harpoon sleeping fish on the reefs? Both of these types of fishing are now illegal in Mexico.
Barren Reefs Along Baja California Sur
The following videos were taken as baseline data showing the barren reefs around the lower gulf Islands in the Sea of Cortes. This short video’s purpose is to show you how barren the reefs are, due in large part to the destruction caused by Pistoleros and encerradores. Hookah divers are killing the reefs
Chasing Pistoleros
Liliana Gutiérrez Mariscal tells us what happened. “Around 8pm we received notification from the OC crew that they had detected a panga (small fishing boat) with pistoleros (spearfishermen) along with their catch up around La Gaviota…”
Complaints About Illegal Fishing Activities Were Published In La Paz Newspaper
Observatorio Ciudadano’s complaints have been presented to the people in La Paz on the local newspaper, requesting action from authorities against illegal fishing activities.
Plataforma attorneys have been working on lawsuits for all the illegal activities filled on the complaints report and will track them all until they are solved.
MIKELSON YACHTS named Sea Watch corporate sponsor of the year for 2009
MikelsonYachts Their leadership in promoting sustainable fisheries in the Sea of Cortes puts them at the forefront of the boat building industry. Their award “Close Encounters” was donated by Scott Hanson of Hanson Studios. www.HansonStudios.com
Jerry Guthrie named Sea Watch man of the year for 2009
For the last ten years Jerry has helped Sea Watch whenever asked. On two occasions he has traveled to Mexico to discuss projects and meet the people. This year when Sea Watch decided to fully fund the first citizen run vigilance program in La Paz, Jerry again came to México for the graduation ceremony and personally congratulated each of the new patrol boat captains and then donated the money to fund the program for the critical first 90 days. Jerry’s award “Harmony” was donated by Scott Hanson, world famous for his marine life bronzes. www.HansonStudios.com
Conapesca La Paz (Mexico's federal fisheries) "To some laws just don't matter"
The following shows the extent of the involvement by some in Conapesca La Paz (federal fisheries in La Paz) in backing and supporting illegal fisheries practices. But, for the first time in my 30 years here, the citizens are starting to take back the Sea of Cortes…
November 2008 trip to the past, when the ocean was full of fish:
Please enjoy the photographs taken by world-class photographers; Brandon Cole, Randy Morse and Doug Perrine.
They are a reminder of what the Sea of Cortes once was.
Panga Longliners de Guaymas - Why dorado in the Sea of Cortes disappeared.
Panga longliners started about 1985 when about 200 permits were issued in Manzanillo for shark. The by catch of sailfish and dorado was about 90% of the total catch during their first year of operation.
Don’t miss the new 3 part video “Oro de Cortez” by Vince Radice It’s the well done story of “protected” dorado exploitation by small longliners.
Dorado part 1
Dorado part 2
Dorado part 3
Panga Longliners caught around 400 dorado in one day
Here are a few pictures of 2 boats that caught around 400 dorado that day. We watched them retrieve ~110 hooks and there were 53 dorado on them. Each boat had 5 km of longline with 600 to 700 baited hooks in the water. Multiply these numbers by the number of boats fishing and you suddenly have 5,000 to 10,000 small dorado being taken from Baja waters on any given day.
Dear Friends,
There are two major problem areas that are causing the continued fisheries destruction in the Sea of Cortez.
The first concerns PELAGIC FISH and the indiscriminate use of longlines and drift gill nets. By law, sports fish, such as billfish and dorado are protected within 50 miles of the coastline, yet a new regulation (Shark Norma 029) has allowed these two destructive and indiscriminate fishing methods to move into the Sea of Cortez and to within 15 miles of the coastline. Longlines and drift gillnets now actually target these protected sports fish.
The second destructive fishery targets all REEF FISH and became the most efficient way to destroy the last of the reef fish several years ago. It utilizes hookah divers who put nets on the reef and drive fish into them doing the day and another set of divers using harpoons at night to kill sleeping reef fish (Video) Sea Watch has chosen to focus its efforts on stopping the destruction of reef fish in the Sea of Cortez by getting legislation passed banning hookah and helping develop a vigilance and enforcement arm that is overseen by the civil society.
Sincerely,
Mike McGettigan, Founder, Seawatch
Old Websites for Archival Information (pdf)
Seawatch 1st Site (1994) 5.4MB
Seawatch 2nd Site (2000) 16MB
NEWSLETTER and ALERTS
Browse by topic:
