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Meeting with the coordinator of the vigilance and protection program that monitors the Bay of La Paz for FONMAR and city counsel of La Paz |
On February 13 this year, we had a talk with Dr. Salvador Garcia Martinez, in the company of 3 of 4 "Technical Advisors" that make up the team Vigilancia y Protección for the Bay of La Paz. This program funded with resources from FONMAR (Fund for the Protection of Marine Resources of Baja California Sur) and the Civil Society through the Grupo Bahía de la Paz, (GBLP) began operations on July 25, 2007.
It involves three levels of government (federal, state and municipal). The objective of this program is the development and implementation of the 5 points developed by (GBLP). Sea Watch is an active participant in this very worthwhile program developed at the end of 2006:
• Inspection and Monitoring of the Bay of La Paz
• Management and Ecological marine fisheries
• Strengthening the structures and legal procedures
• Campaign for communication and dissemination program
• Alternative Economics for displaced fishermen
However, having started the program at the end of July 2007, its members were unable to perform any operation in the field because they had not received official accreditation necessary to perform such charges. It is empowered by SAGARPA, through its designated inspectors in conjunction with the Secretary of the Navy and will be conducting the rondines, inspections and enforce the law when necessary. This team is the only group from the civil society authorized to perform these activities. For this reason, it took until the end of October 2007 for the Ministry of the Navy to certify the team and until January 2nd of this year to start patrols. The patrols are conducted by sea and by land. Patrols are taking place almost every day. The goal is to reach 20 trips terrestrial and 10 per month on the ocean.
In conjunction with SAGARPA, every 15 days they develop the agenda of inspections, as well as designate the inspector's by the Ministry in charge.
These fortnightly schedules of activities are conducted confidentially with the aim of reaching the flagrancy?? , however we believe it is essential to involve the Ministry of the Navy in developing such agendas.
For now, there are 2 Chevrolet pickups, a boat with a200 HP outboard motor and radio communications.
(pictures at the end of the page)
The perimeter surveillance is divided into 4 sectors and covers of latitude 24.1 to 25.1 N and longitude W-110.8 to -110.2
So far, inspections have been conducted have been to San Juan de La Costa, Pichilingue, La Bahia, El Coyote, Airport and Maritime Terminal.
It would be extremely beneficial to have at least one more vessel with its two "Technical Advisors" to be able to cover the 4 sectors identified.
By land, they monitor to 21-kilometer on the La Paz road - San Juan de la Costa, but the optimum would be to have staff assigned to this area on a permanent basis to prevent leakage of information about our arrival and to also be able to reach 28 km along the western coast of the bay. Weekly reports are made of the activities and results achieved.
An example of an outcome was verified last Wednesday 6 February, when 2 "technical advisers", an inspector from SAGARPA and 2 Marine vessel Program, went to the area of Mogote peninsula and found fishermen cleaning baby Angelito Sharks. Even though the act was not punishable in itself, the activity was stopped because the boat did not have any fishing permit.
Dr. Salvador Garcia and various members of the Group Bahia de la Paz, including Sea Watch, believe it is of paramount importance penalize and publicly condemn the shrimp trawlers who from the mainland and drag their nets in the bay, killing everything on the bottom. This is a criminal activity and clearly illegal under present law, if the illegal boats were caught and heavily fined, it would demonstrate to the local fishermen who are also joining together to help defend and nurture the bay, that the government and the civil society are there working with them.
During the chat with Dr. Garcia and his team, we showed them a VMS system that Sea Watch, has on lease for test program approved by NOAA. It is being made available to the vigilance and enforcement program. The VMS systems will track the exact movement of the boats and land vehicles and boats. In addition to security for technical advisers, accurate records of the routes and times add to the transparency and accountability of the program. It is set up so that any donor to this program can track the routes of the boats and land vehicles to be sure their donations are being spent as agreed. These VMS devices will be installed in the boat and one of the land vehicles in the coming days.
Routes taken in the last 10 days by the patrols
Requires Google Earth