Baja California Sur, in northwestern Mexico, is a destination for sport fishing thanks to the abundance of marine species. However, this activity is affected by the clandestine trade in marlin and goldfish, species reserved for sport fishing.
Guadalupe Saldaña, senator of the National Action Party (PAN) for Baja California Sur, said that sport fishing is an important source of employment and tourism; but its commercialization without adequate regulation can jeopardize the local economy and the sustainability of marine species.
The Ministry of Finance of the Government of Baja California Sur raised 65 million pesos annually on average between 2021 and 2023 from the sale of sport fishing permits, according to the annual report of the Fund for the Protection of Marine Resources (Fonmar) Baja California Sur, which is responsible for managing this resource. By October 2023, 146,692 sport fishing permits had been issued.
Gonzalo Alameda, organizer of the Bisbee's Fishing Tournament, one of the largest in the world, highlighted that in Mexico, especially in Baja California Sur, there are migratory species such as marlin and goldfish that, although usually abundant during certain seasons, can face risks due to overexploitation.
The species were reserved for sport fishing in article 68 of the General Law on Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture (LGPAS) because the objective of this fishing is to capture large species for recreation and sports; to achieve this, it is necessary to keep these populations untouched and ensure the availability of large organisms in the future, explained sport fisherman Hideki Yoshida.
“Catches in sport fishing have fallen by 80% and sizes have fallen much more; they are getting smaller. In the 90's, the minimum size for a marlin fishing tournament in Los Cabos was 300 pounds. The winning marlins were over 600 pounds. Currently, in the tournaments in Los Cabos, there is only one marlin weighing more than 300 pounds, always less than 400,” said Marco Puppo, federal deputy from Baja California Sur for the National Action party in his speech to present a series of reforms to protect sport fishing before the Chamber of Deputies.
The 2023 National Fishing Charter indicates that in Baja California Sur and Sinaloa, the catches of gold are more than 45,000 individuals per year with about 40,000 fishing trips per year on average, which shows a decrease compared to 2009 when 96,000 individuals were registered per year.
Currently, there are no official studies on the status of populations reserved for sport fishing, but for Hideki Yoshida it is evident that there is a decrease in the sizes of these species, which is an indicator that there is a possible overexploitation.
“It is clear that there is commercial fishing, especially for Dorado, but there are no official studies on the status of stocks. We notice the red spots of population status in the sizes and lately we have seen that in both marlin and gold, mainly, the sizes have been reduced. So that leads us to practically pose the scenario of overexploitation. It means that something is wrong. And the sport fishing fleet at the national level is nothing compared to the commercial fleet,” he said.
He explained that there is a turning point between commercial and sport fishing, since they have different objectives, the first is to maximize the capture of biomass while the second is to capture large species. Despite this, they are not antagonistic, but the real problem lies in those who practice the activity incorrectly in both areas.
Catch and market sport fishing products
Illustrative photo of industrial boats dedicated to commercial fishing. Source: Alberto Cota.
Although there are exceptions, for Alberto Guillén, operational director of the Network of Citizen Observers (ROC), there are people in all fishing sectors who trade with species reserved for sport fishing, according to his experience doing surveillance in the Bay of La Paz.
“Who markets sport fishing? They are all the sectors that fish for it. Starting with those who acquire licenses for sport fishing; those who do sport fishing without permits as well; commercial fishermen who often see it as an opportunity, either because they are fishing aimed at that species or if it is incidental and in some way that they should put a little more money in their pocket, because they also market it,” he said.
This problem stems from the fact that there is no traceability of products that allows us to see the origin and management of marine species, according to Mariana Aziz, director of transparency campaigns at Oceana Mexico, and this means that it is unknown exactly what percentage each sector contributes to this commercialization.
“The lack of traceability makes it difficult to determine if it comes from incidental fishing, if it is marketed as part of sport fishing, or if it is imported from other countries where its fishing is commercial,” he said.
Incidental fishing is the main source of this product, which is marketed irregularly, the specialists interviewed for this article agreed, and this is where Conapesca should receive the most attention.
When catching tuna such as tuna, bonito and swordfish, golden brown is often caught incidentally as well. However, this catch is limited, according to the LGPAS in its article 66, and “may not exceed the volume of fishing determined by Conapesca for each fishery... The excess of the volumes of by-catch determined by that authority will be considered as fishing carried out without concession or permission”.
Although the Baja California peninsula allows 10% of incidental fishing for dorado compared to the total catch, there is no certainty as to whether this quota is respected or if the illegal trade in species reserved for sport fishing is fueled, Aziz said.
“It is assumed that when up the boat declares how many tons it has of each product it catches and a percentage of incidental fishing is allowed. If the authority were to collect, analyze and process this information, I could say, 'hey, 50 tons of gold are arrival', that doesn't sound so much like bycatch to me and put a red light there and they inspect. The problem is that right now the arrival notices are not analyzed and there is no analysis of this information. With that, the authority would say, 'it doesn't make sense that many tons of a species that is reserved for sport fishing' are arriving, but until there is this analysis, there is no traceability and there is no inspection, it is coming to our tables,” Aziz said.
However, there are other sources of irregularities. For example, gold and marlin are also marketed by those who have permits to carry out sport fishing, which is illegal, Guillen said, since according to the LGPAS, the product extracted from sport fishing must be for domestic consumption and profiting from it is considered an offence according to article 132 and involves an administrative sanction (reprimand; fine; administrative arrest; confiscation of boats, vehicles, fishing gear and/or products related to the violations committed; suspension or revocation of permits; concessions and authorizations).
Faced with this, Gonzalo Alameda pointed out that as tournament coordinators they implement actions to prevent the overexploitation of the target species and strive to take care of the species even by imposing more rules than established by law.
“We are implementing sport fishing clinics for the conservation and preservation of resources, in other words, we contribute and say that sport fishing for juvenile children must be released, we manage the catch limits in Cabo San Lucas, even if one marlin is allowed per fisherman, a culture of one piece per boat has already been generated, in other words, we are trying to take care of the species,” he explained.
Another way in which this product may be reaching the market is by importing it from countries such as Costa Rica, where its fishing is for commercial purposes, according to Aziz.
Where is it marketed?
Marketplace, a buying and selling section of Facebook, offers a wide range of products mainly derived from marlin fish. “Marlin paté, $90”, “pickled marlin, $150”, “kilo of smoked marlin, $140”, are among the sales publications of users in La Paz.
Alberto Guillén recognized that gold is a high-demand product that is not only marketed on social networks, but is also present in informal stalls and even exclusive restaurants in La Paz.
In 2023, the organization Oceana published the report Cat by Hare: The Frozen Fish Fraud on species substitution. Of the 59 fish samples taken at various restaurants in La Paz, it was identified that three restaurants offered cabrilla, parakeet and horse mackerel and served goldfish instead.
However, in Mulegé, Loreto and Los Cabos, four samples of gold were identified in restaurants where goldfish was offered and was not replaced, but it matched the species and the dish was offered for an average price of 250 pesos.
In the case of marlin fish, six cases were detected in La Paz and Los Cabos where the species was offered on the restaurant menu, but it was mainly replaced by yellowfin tuna.
Corruption chain
Illustrative photograph of a fisherman with gold caught legally in a sport fishing tournament. Source: Fonmar Baja California Sur Archive.
According to Guillén, this illegal trade in marine species intended for sport fishing involves a network of actors that operate outside fishing regulations and perpetuate this illegal activity.
Some commercial fishermen, whether operating with legal licenses and permits or in the shadow of illegality, are actively involved in the clandestine marketing of sport fishing products, Guillén said. By capturing these species incidentally during their main activity, they find in their sale an opportunity to make additional profits.
“They are supposed to have an incidental fishing margin to report it, but often it's not incidental, but it's the target catch. And as we say here, the markets are full of by-catch. So commercial anglers often focus on that product, perhaps because they don't receive the full economic benefit of their regular fishery. This may be because they are exploited by middlemen who don't provide them with a fair price. As a result, they may be forced to seek other options to make a profit, even by selling products in a clandestine manner,” he said.
On the other hand, he mentioned that some sport fishermen, both those who operate within legal limits with valid permits and those who operate outside the law, are joining this illegal trade. They use various channels, from internal sales between acquaintances to fishmongers, marketplaces and online platforms, to market illegally caught products.
“Even when you ask the restaurant owner questions, you say, 'no, but I bought it and I have an invoice'. And you say, how can there be an invoice of a species that is exclusive? So, it means that there is a chain of corruption from when that fish got on the boat, whatever it was, until it arrived at that restaurant because they made it legal. It arrived at a warehouse where it was invoiced and they had to make it legal for it to be marketed. When an inspector wanted to do an inspection in that restaurant, in that warehouse, if there is an invoice, well, that's the end of the inspector's actions. There is an invoice, the product is protected, but it doesn't mean that it was correct,” he explained.
From the restaurant sector, Julia Lorena Hinojosa Oliva, advisor to the Chamber of Restaurant and Spicy Food Industry (Canirac) in La Paz, said that many restaurants have adopted a responsible and ethical stance by not selling products such as Dorado and Marlin.
He explained that since mid-2022, Canirac has been working closely with Conapesca to make its members aware of the importance of not acquiring or selling prohibited species. He emphasized that no restaurant menu belonging to the chamber handles species reserved for sport fishing nor has he been sanctioned for this.
“Since 2022, when we were made aware of these prohibitions, although no fine has been imposed, we have worked to avoid making mistakes and not falling into a situation that could affect the businessman due to bad practices, for buying products that are prohibited. For this reason, already in our menu cards, you will not find any product that points out these two products, which are marlin fish and golden fish,” he said.
Good Practices
Currently, there are two tools that help prevent the illegal marketing of fish products reserved for sport fishing.
These are two reforms, approved in December by the Chamber of Deputies, to articles 68 and 132 of the General Law on Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture presented by Deputy Marco Puppo that aim to prohibit the commercialization of species exclusive to sport fishing, which is pending approval in the Senate to be published in the Official Gazette of the Federation and to enter into force.
The reform added the prohibition of the commercialization of species intended for sport fishing, including those obtained from by-catch, and it is forbidden to simulate acts of incidental fishing for the purpose of profiting from the products obtained from catches.
A third, still waiting to be finalized, is a Traceability Standard project promoted by the civil organization Oceana that establishes the basis for implementing a traceability system for fishery and aquaculture products, involving all participants in the value chain, however, Conapesca has stalled the initiative since 2021.
This initiative would make it possible to verify the legal origin of seafood products so that those that come from sport fishing would not even reach the market because they did not have the necessary permits.
“Any product without permission, that was caught in Veda, that is not a species allowed for trade could not reach consumers. A product in sport fishing is not going to have a commercial permit number, so the idea is that these products would naturally be excluded from the market because they did not meet the marketing requirements,” Aziz explained.
It is also necessary to improve surveillance aimed at sport fishermen who resort to illegality, according to Yoshida, by reviewing their logs, checkpoints and real sanctions.
He explained that understanding the objectives of commercial and sport fishing is crucial for making informed decisions about the conservation and sustainable management of fishery resources.
* This article contains information and infographic by journalist Daniela Reyes.
*This report was supported by the Mar Journalism Network for its production.
Comentarios (0)