Three months after the first Standard Management Plan for Sighting and Swimming with Orcas came into effect in Mexico, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) modified its permit scheme after recognizing that the original distribution left out local service providers.
The federal authority confirmed the issuance of 10 additional permits to include residents of the communities of La Ventana, El Sargento and Agua Amarga who had been excluded from the first list of 50 authorizations. The decision, revealed by the state director of the agency, Cristina González Rubio San Vicente, corrects one of the main reasons for disagreement and opens up a process of dialogue with communities.
“The 50 permissions proposed at the time have already been given, of which 40 were granted to people in the community and another 10 that, unfortunately, are not from people in the community. This was the main discontent on the part of the community and we fully understand it,” González Rubio explained in an interview with Causa Natura Media.
“We are committed to talking with the General Directorate of Wildlife so that those 10 that were not given to the community are replaced by people in the community,” he added.
González Rubio acknowledged that the claim is “genuine” and that the conflict is limited to environmental regulations themselves. He noted that the current law prevents giving priority to local communities because authorizations are evaluated under the same criteria for all applicants.
From headquarters, “it is not always possible to understand the local context,” he said, so he considers it necessary to review the regulations to allow the benefits to fall first on the local inhabitants.
The plan in force from August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026 regulates tourist interaction with wild killer whales for the first time in the country. Establish safety distances, schedules, vessel limits and satellite monitoring protocols.
This type of dolphin, whose presence in the bay of La Ventana has become a growing tourist attraction, motivated the pilot exercise promoted by Semarnat to order the sightings that grew without formal regulation.
The community accepted the plan “because there was no other option,” explained Heriberto Rosas, current president of the United Pueblos Tourism Providers Board, which brings together La Ventana, El Sargento and Agua Amarga. “They told us that it was a pilot plan and that it was already coming from Mexico City, that nothing could be changed for now. Well, all you had to do was grab it like that, even if it doesn't work,” he said.
The leader recognizes that the lack of presence of orcas this season; the imposition of starting dates for the sighting and swimming plan; and the obligation to take training without consulting communities “make things very complicated”, since most of the captains are unable to comply with the new scheme.
A change of life with structural obstacles
The shift from fishing to tourism has meant a change of identity and livelihood for these coastal communities. Many of the current captains are former shark or mobula fishermen who, faced with fishing losses, looked to wildlife sighting as a way to earn a living.
“I don't want to go back to fishing. It was a very difficult phase... this [tourism] is safe, you take out a customer even if you see things or don't see things... but if they keep turning their backs on us, we return to fishing, although we don't want that either,” said Alfredo Rojas, a captain of Agua Amarga whose real name has been kept.
The implementation of the plan showed a lack of support in the fishermen's transition to tourism. Alfredo sums up the frustration of many over the years' effort to get a boat and adapt to the new model that ended in the exclusion of permits.
One of the established commitments was mandatory safety and first aid training for captains and guides. So far, one of 10 scheduled courses has already been offered. This cost to be taught by a private person accredited by Civil Protection.
The costs of the courses have been a point of tension with the community and the reluctance to pay amounts of around 5,800 pesos has also allowed foreigners to get ahead in obtaining permits, the fishermen accuse.
Faced with this inequality, communities took control over ramps and access to boats. “Here the people rule, at least, the boat that leaves here has to be from here. We outsiders are not going to let them out for the killer whale thing,” says Rosas.
However, courses are required to maintain permissions. “There are terms and conditions that are enshrined in your authorization. The training course and the satellite monitoring system are mandatory. If they don't comply with them, it's a reason why in a second season they are not eligible for permission,” González said of this authorization, which lasts one year.
The official pointed out that they rely on the City Council of La Paz through the Department of Tourism to prevent most courses from having costs, while local fishermen ask that the Red Cross or cheaper options provide them.
The organization as an answer
In order to strengthen communication with community leaders, Semarnat accompanied the election of a board of directors. A participatory monitoring committee made up of members from the three localities will receive training from Profepa.
The community board of directors is made up of “pure locals”, Rosas clarified. A request made by 34 fishermen from the area was delivered to Cristina González Rubio on October 17.
The document proposes that priority be given to the original inhabitants of Agua Amarga, El Sargento and La Ventana over foreigners; that permits granted to external companies be withdrawn; that all foreign operations be carried out by hiring only local personnel, and that the role of the inhabitants be recognized as those who “share a genuine vocation of service to their community and know firsthand the problems that affect them”.
“If foreign companies continue to work, the benefit will go outside,” Rosas warned, despite the fact that the locals “have lived their whole lives off the sea and are the ones who really know how to do it.”
Youth get involved in the “shielding” of their bay
Among the new figures that emerged from the problem, Víctor Flores, a 23-year-old resident of La Ventana, stands out, who has led the draft proposal for a marine Environmental Management Unit (UMA).
UMA are legally registered spaces where management plans authorized by Semarnat apply. Their main purpose is to conserve ecosystems and the species that inhabit them, although they can also be used for restoration, research, environmental education or sustainable use.
The scheme includes a financial committee with representatives of the three communities, responsible for collectively deciding the use of resources: from improving the landing ramp to financing surveillance vessels.
According to Víctor Flores, the purpose is for management plans to be designed and managed by the inhabitants themselves to prevent outside interests from controlling what belongs to La Ventana, El Sargento and Agua Amarga.
“It was the main problem here in the community that other people from outside would come and take this work away from the locals. That concern was precisely what happened... Several tourism service providers in the community were left out from the start, and there were people who took advantage of that,” Flores said.
An ongoing process
The requirements of the management plan with orcas include the installation of satellite monitoring systems on authorized vessels, in order to ensure their location and safety in real time.
González Rubio explained that the model is still being evaluated and will be agreed with the communities. This could replicate schemes already applied in whale shark watching or in protected natural areas.
“We want to have a meeting with the authorized colleagues to see the examples and they are going to decide which system they are going to stay with. These systems represent a cost for them, some are monthly and others are annual.”
Monitoring systems will also result in ecological databases. “We see a lot of value in having automated data generation and collection... the management plan states that providers record everything they observe, not just killer whales, but all the megafauna that inhabits the Sergeant and La Ventana area,” the official explained.
Regarding the announcement of ten additional permits by Semarnat, Rosas confirms that the community was notified, but still without concrete results: “Yes, they told us that, but there has been no delivery”.
Even so, the leader maintains a conciliatory tone towards state authority. For his part, Semarnat assures that “trust has been earned” and that the dialogue continues.
Thus, the process of swimming with orcas in Baja California Sur has set a precedent for environmental and tourist regulation that can only be sustained if it is built with communities that live from the sea.
“We are baffled, we thought the flag was going to be a big benefit and apparently it's limiting us. It got us into trouble,” Rosas concluded.
Faced with this reality, the community has decided to stand firm: if in the next renewal the permits benefit outsiders again, “we are going to have to do something more serious, more forceful”, concluded the leader. “With the people everything, and without the people nothing.”
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