SHARK NORMA 029 UPDATE – SEA OF CORTEZ LONGLINING

[igfarich]

Thanks to many of you on this and other forums around the world, thousands of “petition” letters and comments against the enactment of Shark Norma 029 have been sent to Mexican officials and Defenders of Wildlife and notice has been taken! More letters will only help. Here are some of the things happening in Baja to stop longlining in the Sea of Cortez:

Tracy Ehrenberg (Pisces Fleet) and Minerva Saenz (Minerva’s Baja Tackle) have been working hard in Los Cabos. Minerva hand delivered letters to the Governor of Baja. He was in Todos Santos for a dedication ceremony so she took the time to make the drive and personally meet with him regarding the issue. Tracy is gathering support for a public meeting with Ramon Coral, a high up in Mexico’s Fisheries Management department. Well over 1,000 people plan on showing up at the meeting. With the tournaments in town, Bisbee’s and the Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot, the town is literally jammed with anglers so they too are being rallied to take action.

Let’s not stop the push to end this fiasco. IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SENT YOUR LETTERS, PLEASE VISIT SEA WATCH AT THE FOLLOWING LINK TO MAKE YOUR VOICE COUNT TODAY!!

http://www.seawatch.org/newsroom/lon...s_position.php

I’ll keep you posted as to any major updates on the IGFA Anglers Digest website –
http://www.igfaanglersdigest.com

Thanks to all who have taken the time to get involved,

RC

[Bullshipper]

Cabos and PV are about the only ports where artisan longling out of pangas is not in full swing. I personally feel that the huge number of Mx Pangas working close to shore is having a larger detrimental effect than the larger foriegn operations offshore.

I really commend your efforts to keep the big boys far offshore, but a thornier problem is how to first convince the government here to fund and then buy the licences of the panga cooperativas in a few selected major tourist ports so to balance the needs of commercial and sport anglers. These pangas are supposed to stay 12 miles offshore at a minimum, but it is real hard to enforce this, especially when their boats are so small and their economic situaton is marginal at best.

These pangas are getting rock bottom prices for their catch due to an oversupply of fish, and cutting this back would help them to make a little more money and to do a better job of perserving their catch. Dorado sells for as low as a $1 a kilo in Guadalajara when the runs are strong, so you can imagine what are they paying at the docks.

I know that Ed Kunze is trying to keep the troops rallied up in Ixtapa, but has anyone taken the lead in PV, Barra de Navidad, Mazatlan, East Cape, Mag Bay, Santa Rosalia, etc?

The only other comment that I would make is about timing. The Senate and Bush just made the expansion of the border fences a reality this week and anti-american sentiment is running very high at the moment. The locals feel that this will not cure the problem, and that only more deaths will occur in more remote locations. We are also being shown as the guys responsible for tearing down the Berlin Wall to build another. Whatever.

But us pushing them to save our fishing hole in their contry is a weaker argument today than it was prior to this weeks confirmation, so I would suggest we tread lightly for the next month or two.