In a interview for “Minuto 10”, the Secretary of Fisheries of Yucatan State, Rafael Combaluzier, stated yesterday that the state Fisheries Council is recommending and asking the federal authorities to implement a quota system for the local grouper fishery.
“We have agreed at the State Fisheries Council that a quota system should be implemented for grouper, octopus and some other fisheries. Allocating quota per fishers cooperatives, pricing those accomplishing with the rules, reporting catches, and billing them and even increasing them at expenses of those that are not reporting or using the licenses for “washing” illegal catch can be a very good tool to put control and manage adequately the fishery”, explained Combaluzier.
Very recently, the state fishing authority organized a census in order to provide subsidies during the upcoming grouper closure season in the context of the pandemic, and more than 12 thousand fishers were registered.
“The fishery has a massive social impact in the state fishing communities, and the various groupers biomass have been decreasing with the time”, said Minerva Alonso, from the NGO CeDePesca, coordinating the implementation of a Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP) for groupers and snappers in Yucatan. “That is why we have suggested long time ago to evolve from the current management measures to a more comprehensive management scheme, including the implementation of a TAC per fleet and a quota system. We are glad that step by step this proposal has gotten an increased support between fishers, processors, and officials”.
Very recently, José Luis Carrillo, chairperson of the Fisheries Cooperatives Federation of Western-Central Yucatan and Ana Maria Frias, chairperson of the Regional Federation of Fishing Cooperative Societies also expressed their support to the implementation of a quota system for the state grouper fishery.
The Yucatan groupers FIP is supported by American distributors such as Sea-Delight and Netuno, as well as local companies and fishing cooperatives in Mexico. “We appreciate the patience of our partners regarding this difficult project, stated Ernesto Godelman, CEO of CeDePesca. From the beginning we knew this is an overly complicated FIP, requiring a long-term effort. We learnt from this and other cases that, even when sometimes seems nothing is happening, the accumulation of alliances, outreach and a good rationale finally achieve better management practices”.
