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. These two illegal techniques (Pistoleros Are Killing The Bay) account for 60 to 70 percent of the fish in the markets during the spring and they are the reasons the reefs in BCS and in the Sea of Cortes are empty. Sea Watch then fought for the next 2 years to get the approved ban passed into law. That just happened!

So, on July 1st, 2009 - a new vigilance patrol program called “Observatorio Ciudadano” was begun in La Paz by Plataforma Bahia de La Paz and is off to a successful start

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…

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, March 6, 2009 – Annually approximately 1500 Humpback Whales, many highly endangered Blue Whales and 8000 Gray Whales travel down a coastal corridor (often called the H20 highway) from Alaska to Mexico. Their journey is peaceful as they move southward to warmer waters. That all changes as they enter Mexico, a country that has proclaimed itself the “world’s largest whale sanctuary”. Here they have to navigate through a gauntlet of hundreds of gillnets placed along the Baja and mainland coastline directly in their path.

Make a $100 dollar donation to Sea Watch and get a Limited Edition Marlin 12”x18” photo like the one shown here, recently shot by world-class underwater photographer Doug Perrine.   Donate Today

To view the picture gallery with four additional photos available for purchase, please click here:   Underwater Photography.