Fishermen promote shelters to protect sea cucumbers from illegality in Yucatán

Faced with poaching that puts sea cucumbers at risk, cooperatives work with fishing shelters and community surveillance to protect the species.
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The last time they went out to watch the sea, they were the target of a harpoon attack. More than 50 boats were discovered illegally caught by the surveillance commission made up of fishermen from a cooperative in Yucatán.

“There were soldiers from the Secretariat of the Navy with us and they didn't respond (to attacks by illegal fishermen),” says José, one of those in charge of surveillance, who for security reasons asked to change his name.

The result of the encounter was: a burned boat and the escape of poachers. José recalls that he saw them carry hundreds of kilos of sea cucumber, a kind of commercial value in a state of overexploitation due to poaching that has generated a million-dollar business in the Asian market.

In Mexico, there are 50 species of sea cucumber recorded, but only the brown one (Isostichopus fuscus) that inhabits the northwestern coasts of the country is listed in NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 under the category of “subject to special protection”. While in the Yucatan Peninsula, brown sea cucumber (Isostichopus badionotus) is in critical condition, according to evaluations by researchers.

To address overexploitation, a permanent ban on sea cucumbers was created off the coast of Yucatán. Fishermen have also created fishing shelters to conserve species such as octopus, lobster and sea cucumber for repopulation. This, in turn, has led them to organize their own fishing surveillance groups.

Prior to December 2024, the only officially decreed refuge was that of Celestún, but in that month the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development enacted the shelter in Actam Chuleb, a protected area in front of the municipalities of San Felipe and Dzilam de Bravo. And a third could be made official since the fishermen of the fishing cooperatives in the Rio Lagartos municipality are waiting for their approval.

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Seizure of sea cucumber (Isostichopus badionotus). Photo: Government of Mexico.

“The overexploitation that has occurred on these species (of sea cucumber) is not related to formal fishing, but is actually the product of illegal fishing and this poaching has never stopped. From our point of view, it intensified during 2020 and 2021 when all activities (due to the pandemic) were significantly reduced, including surveillance by coastal patrols,” explained Miguel Ángel Olvera, researcher at the Department of Marine Resources at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Cinvestav).

The researcher Olvera is also the scientific director of the Cinvestav Marine Station in Telchac Puerto, where they have laboratories to work on the cultivation of sea cucumbers. His research began in 2008 focusing on the brown variant of the species, which fishermen sometimes call “badionotus” by its scientific name.

“Badionotus is the most valuable species and was the first species on which the fishery was based, so it has been most exploited, to such an extent that it is currently very difficult to obtain organisms of this species,” said Olvera.

The laboratory also works with the pencil sea cucumber (Holothuria floridana), which was easier to handle because it had better conditions for their reproductive habits. However, Olvera warned that it is a vulnerable species because it is an alternative for fishing.

The cultivation of sea cucumbers aims to produce young and juveniles to be later transferred to wildlife. Currently, there is an alliance between Cinvestav and the cooperatives of the Rio Lagartos community, in the east of the Yucatan Peninsula, where areas have been allocated to floating cages that are placed inside mangrove channels so that the sea cucumber can finish developing.

These efforts led fishermen from Rio Lagartos to submit an application six months ago to establish a fishing shelter. The resolution is still in process.

“It would be the first time we have a fishing shelter, but we know that it works. We have seen it with other species such as lobster, we have a good catch when we close the seasons and we respect non-fishing areas,” explained Ángel Rivero, president of the Rio Lagartos Fishing Cooperative.

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Seizure of sea cucumber (Isostichopus badionotus). Photo: CONAPESCA.

Celestún, a success story

In Celestún, a municipality in the west of the Yucatan Peninsula, there has been a fishing refuge area since 2019. Its main objective is the recovery of sea cucumber, as well as the repopulation of other species for fishing such as the Mayan octopus (Octopus maya), the red grouper (Epinephelus morio), the lobster (Panulirus argus) and the boquinete (Lachnolaimus maximus).

“Seeing the problems of illegal fishing and lack of fisheries management, we decided on the fishing shelter. We thought it was the best option and we were not mistaken, it is a fundamental tool. We have had excellent results and it has united us as fishermen,” said Ricardo Novelo, president of the Federation of Cooperatives of the Port of Celestún and member of the board of directors of the fishing shelter.

Novelo explained that the repopulation of the sea cucumber badionotus has occurred more than 25 meters deep. As a species that is caught through diving or underwater fishing, it is dangerous for poachers to descend to this area.

However, the repopulation area is not located within the Celestún refuge, so fishermen have raised the possibility of moving some of these organisms to the shelter so that they are under their protection and monitoring their growth.

Meanwhile, to deal with illegal fishing, they formed a surveillance commission of 20 men and 20 women who take turns monitoring the shelter and preventing the species from being fished during its closed season. They also monitor that the allowed catches are by hand, respecting the sizes and fishing gears indicated by law.

As part of the challenges, fishermen talk about a lack of awareness, so they are promoting training programs for both artisanal fishermen and boys and girls in schools to approach the conservation of species. In addition, there are ecological tourism plans to tour the refuge area and report on fishing efforts.

“We have to start seeding our seas. Repopulate so that we always have these species for ourselves and for our children and grandchildren who come back,” concluded Novelo.

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