In a country where illegal fishing persists, overexploitation of marine resources and lack of coastal surveillance, the Kanan Kay Alliance represents a boost to food security for communities that depend on this activity.
The Alliance is made up of actors from various sectors that have an interest in the sea, from its conservation to its sustainable use, to contribute to supply in the Yucatan Peninsula. However, the work they do is not easy, there are daily challenges that drag on for years and worsen with the passage of time.
Raziel Villegas Núñez, legal, control and surveillance coordinator of the Kanan Kay Alliance, explained that, 14 years ago, fishermen and other social actors urged the authorities to take action after observing that there were already high-pressure and exploitative fisheries in Quintana Roo, such as grouper, lobster, pink snails and others.
“These species were already in danger of viability and began to have biological, commercial and, of course, repercussions on the socio-economic lives of fishermen,” he described.
This is how the organization began between different people to give way to what would be the Kanan Kay Alliance. Joining forces, they worked to form fishing refuge areas, as a measure to counteract the overexploitation of marine species.
The Kanan Kay Alliance works mainly in Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo. Source: Elaboration of CNM.
“With this figure, what we proposed was to protect some species from fisheries, juvenile specimens, aggregation, reproduction and spawning areas. Precisely, to allow species to recover,” said the legal lawyer.
For this work, the experience of people dedicated to fishing, academia and non-governmental organizations was combined.
One of the species that received the most attention at the beginning of the Alliance was the lobster. With reproductive cycle statistics, they noticed that on average 10% of 10,000 eggs survived. These are a thousand new crustaceans, that is, they considered a sufficient quantity to increase production.
Lobster has been one of the species most threatened by illegal fishing. Source: Kanan Kay Alliance.
Challenges
Despite the Alliance's achievements, there is one problem they face on a daily basis and that is illegal fishing.
“When fish shelters began to see a recovery of species, illegal fishermen realized that there was an opportunity to fish there and began to get in and capture what was being cared for,” said Raziel Villegas.
The lack of surveillance in the coastal area, Villegas accused, is one of the main problems. On the coast of Quintana Roo, it is possible to detect only three annual inspections by members of the National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission (Conapesca).
“This is impunity because we know of two or three inspectors for the entire territory of the Yucatan Peninsula. In addition, there are 117 boats to travel through 17 coastal states and of these, until last year, 67 were useless due to mechanical problems and federal authorities only state that there is no budget to repair them,” he said.
Although successful cases stand out, such as that of Vigía Chico and Cozumel, in which illegal fishing decreases through the surveillance of fishermen, this is not the case in Banco Chinchorro, since illegal fishing is linked to organized crime and the species they catch the most is the pink snail, according to the observations of the Alliance.
The Kanan Kay Alliance increasingly includes women's work. Source: Kanan Kay Alliance.
Achievements they work for:
Currently, the Alliance aims to increase the biomass of species of commercial interest within fishing refuge areas by at least 30%.
Laura Isabel González Rivera, general coordinator of the Kanan Kay Alliance, shared that one of the group's achievements is the formation of cooperatives and surveillance groups in Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán.
“Training began to be given to them so that they knew where to go if they detected illegal fishing and how to follow them up, and now they also take care of and monitor their areas,” he said.
The fishing sector receives training that helps it to organize itself. Source: Kanan Kay Alliance.
Today, those who are part of the alliance have an application so that they can report cases of illegal fishing from their phones. There they upload evidence such as photographs and videos that can add to a complaint process.
Laura González said that the first few years they only worked in Quintana Roo, but the sum of their efforts took them to neighboring states, where they reinforce community sense and decree more fishing refuge areas.
“We have seen how fishermen have a greater perception of conservation, a real commitment to their environment and there is greater interaction between fishing communities, at the same time that they integrate more women and young people in decision-making,” Laura added.
The work aimed at each fishing refuge area depends on the needs of the fishing communities and the most overexploited species are protected.
“One of the best results is that as an Alliance there is recognition of fishermen, and it is they who decide what they do in their territories,” he said.
* This article was written by Itzel Chan, who covers coastal communities thanks to the support of the Report for the World program .
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