Vaquita – Last Chance for the Desert Porpoise

As the 2010 shrimp season approaches, the Mexican Government, local fishermen and NGOs are working hard to avoid vaquita deaths in the Upper Gulf of California. For the fourth year in a row, the buy-out, rent-out and gear development programs will take place and the 2010 programs reflect the government’s efforts to address needs and challenges that develop as the conservation efforts move forward.

These are the programs available to fishermen:

1. Buy-out (alternative livelihoods program): Fishermen turn in a boat (panga), all fishing permits assigned to it, its motor and all fishing gear associated to the fishing permits.
   

   	Maximum amount of $ (pesos)
   1boat, motor and gill nets associated to 3 or more fishing permits.	$400,000.00
   1 boat, motor and gill nets associated to 2 fishing permits.	$350,000.00
   1 boat, motor and gill nets associated to 1 fishing permit.	$300,000.00

2. Fishing gear exchange (“switch-out”): Permanent substitution of gillnets with other fishing gear that does not pose a threat to vaquitas. This requires a fishing permit to be modified so that they specify what gear fishermen will be allowed to use.
   

   	Maximum amount of $ (pesos)
   Fishing gear exchange for 1 permit	$300,000.00

3. Rent-out (conservation activities): Fishermen receive compensation in exchange for suspending all fishing activities with gillnets inside the vaquita refuge and three additional areas where gear testing will take place. These additional areas will be closed off during specific dates; this means that during these periods of time only gear testing is allowed inside their perimeters. Funds for this program are given to each boat as long as they have a current fishing permit and their fishing area is within 30 nautical miles of their assigned docking port.Gear testing will take place the following days (2010):
   

   Month	Start	Finish
   September	24	28
   October	16	20
   November	1	5
   December	2	6

   	Maximum amount of $ (pesos)
   Biodiversity Conservation Activities	$60,000.00

4. Fishing gear development (gear testing): This program refers to the testing of the RS-INP-MX net. Testing activities will be done throughout the entire shrimp season and under a special fishing permit allowing for gear development. Funds will be awarded in exchange for suspending the commercial fishing permit for the same period of time. There are three categories to chose from in this program:
   1. Gear development with the purchase of the RS-INP-MX prototype. Funds awarded include the cost of the fishing gear; fishermen need to purchase this gear following technical specifications as well as operation techniques established by INAPESCA.
   2. Gear development without the purchase of the RS-INP-MX prototype. This option is only available to those who changed their fishing permit specifications from gillnet use to RS-INP-MX prototype use, as well as to those who participated in the gear development program in 2009.
      
   3. Controlled testing. Only boats that changed their fishing permits so that they specified the use of RS-INP-MX are eligible. Up to 10 boats will be selected and will operate under the work plan and direction of INAPESCA. Boats not selected for this category will be eligible for consideration for option (b).

Fishermen participating in any of the categories described above are required to complete at least 15 fishing trips during the shrimp season. Each trip needs to include three 1 hour trawls and should have an observer on board.

	Maximum amount of $ (pesos)
Gear development with the purchase of the RS-INP-MX prototype (option a).	$170,000.00
Gear development without the purchase of the RS-INP-MX prototype (option b).	$90,000.00
Controlled testing (option c).	$120,000.00

For more information and a complete description of the PACE-Vaquita 2010 and its programs visit CONANP’s web site at http://www.conanp.gob.mx/vaquita_marina/

(site and documents are in Spanish)

About Catalina López

Catalina Lopéz Sagástegui has written 12 post in this blog.

A Scholar in Residence at UC MEXUS. She has worked with local fishermen implementing vaquita conservation programs in the Upper Gulf of California, Mexico.

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Tags: Community, El Golfo de Santa Clara, Fisheries, Gillnets, San Felipe, Vaquita