“As fishermen, we have been resilient.” This is how Alfonso Chaparro, president of the 21st Century Federation of Fishing Cooperatives and fishing leader in Sinaloa, summarizes the development of the artisanal fishing sector during the past six-year term of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
From 2018 to 2024, the coastal fishing sector was affected by budget cuts to the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Commission (Conapesca) and the reduction of subsidies to fishermen. Also because of the impacts of poaching, which, according to official figures, represents 40% of national activity.
In an interview with Causa Natura Media, Chaparro explains what fisheries management was like during this six-year period and what are the expectations of fishermen in northwestern Mexico now that a new six-year term has just begun.
This interview has been edited for synthesis and clarity, without altering the interviewee's statements.
— Sinaloa is one of the leading states in the country's fishing sector. What is your balance of results after the six-year term of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador?
— In Sinaloa we are always between first and second place in fish production, even in the price of fish products. However, we have seen that we are moving to third place in terms of production. This has been very difficult for the survival of fellow coastal fishermen because, first, resources for inspection and surveillance were cut back.
Before, we had 23 grants (subsidies) that we had obtained and an annual budget that we can say was sufficient for Conapesca, the maximum reached four billion pesos, but for this year the budget was reduced, leaving only 640 million pesos for operating expenditure.
We have considered the importance of the conservation and reproduction of species, however, there is no surveillance that allows this series of reproducers to spawn and achieve their growth. Blinds are definitely difficult not to violate because of a lack of authority. There are important things, we need the species that the companions capture to reproduce in order to be able to make market strategies and have a sufficient income. Even the organization also depends a lot on the driving force of production and good sales, and that became more expensive. Practically, they left us alone.
— Considering this reduction in the budget and fishing subsidies, the latter reduced to the support of the Bienesca program of 7,500 pesos per beneficiary, how has it impacted the administration of cooperatives?
— Fishing cooperatives were badly described and frowned upon by the federal government, as “dysfunctional entities” and as “malicious and corrupt people”. So the policy was addressed directly to the fisherman in the Bienesca program, when before there were important subsidies such as motor subsidies.
In cooperatives, there is a law under which agreements are made by a majority. The money that came to the cooperatives had an impact because it divided and addressed fishing issues such as administration, training, organization and care of resources. However, all this has changed completely, a single resource has already been delivered, but not for all anglers.
The BienPesca program was practically open to the general public (the register accepted people who were not in fishing cooperatives). We do not agree that a program for fishing should be open to all citizens. Yes, we agree that the money should be given, because I think that anyone who is supported with resources is important for their economic impact, but what is budgeted for fishing belongs to the fisherman. And in this case that was not the case. Work was done separately from fishing organizations, and there are even fellow fishermen who did not receive a single weight in six years, being colleagues who work every day.
These six years have passed, which were of abandonment, of very harsh signs against colleagues, but I still think we have to overcome it, turn the tables and keep working.
— On the subject of illegal fishing, which is a problem present in all fishing communities, do you consider that they had an increase in the effects?
— It's a complicated subject where you can't show your face because you're putting yourself at risk. Unfortunately, when one authority is not present, another one emerges (illegality), which is the one that has prevented compliance with prohibitions.
The federal government, which has the powers of inspection and surveillance, needs to support us, but we have achieved important alliances with the government of the state of Sinaloa. I think we are the only state that is supporting fishing with inspection and surveillance, we have 15 million pesos to exercise, we only have one major problem with marine engines. So the resources that the state government supports us for surveillance are coordinated with the few resources that Conapesca has for inspection.
— In this regard, what actions would you expect from the new Conapesca administration to improve?
— We have a lot of hope. We are people who see the future for the better, even if it's bad. These are things that we consider to be periodic and we are in a public policy that I think will change. We have a new commissioner (Alejandro Flores Nava) who knows the subject of fishing and we also see his will.
On January 17, we met and he acknowledged that fishing was not taken care of. We are hopeful, but I am concerned about the issue of the budget that is too low, which is barely enough for its administrative expenses. However, we hope that at least on the issue of fisheries order and subsidies we will make progress. Also on the subject of shelters, because we want species to grow, we can have the support of anyone, but if we can't fish, it's not possible to continue.
— Now that you are commenting on the importance of fishing shelters and conservation actions, what do you envision sustainable fishing for these coming years?
— It's very important. All coastal fishermen already know that natural resources are scarce all over the country, in the world. So what we're doing is working for sustainable fishing. That these species advance in time and not end.
We are working on fishing gear and looking for ways to establish fishing refuge areas because we have very important species that for our benefit are fisheries that are not yet very deteriorated. We need to continue to support this type of action, but we have been very emphatic that the actions we plan also involve inspection and surveillance because, otherwise, the efforts we make will not be sustainable. The alliance with other states, with municipalities is important... I have faith that this six-year term will do well for us.
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