Jellyfish revive commercial fishing in Sea of Cortez
Government’s ban on gill net usage prompts shift
SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Son. — The jellyfish has come to the rescue of fishermen at El Golfo de Santa Clara in the wake of a ban placed on the use of gill nets in the Sea of Cortez.
The Mexican government imposed the ban three years ago, prompting fishermen to pursue the jellyfish, a species highly sought as table fare in such nations as China, Japan and South Korea.
In just the first two weeks of the current fishing season that began in late May, nearly 20,000 tons of jellyfish were harvested, according to estimates.
“Fishing for jellyfish is like a lifesaver for us in the face of traditional fishing,” said Carlos Alberto Tirado, head of a fishing cooperative at El Golfo. “It’s benefiting the community and I’m sure it’s having a positive impact at the regional and national level because it’s an export product.”
The ban on gill net use was imposed to protect the endangered vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise, of which only about 30 are believed to exist in the gulf. Fisherman use a different type of net for jellyfish.
The government has provided compensation payments to fishermen in lieu of allowing them to continue catching the vaquita. Still, says Tirado, what has saved the fishermen financially is permitted fishing for another species, the curvina, in the spring and then jellyfish later in the year.
Tirado predicts that by the conclusion of fishing season at the end of this month, fishermen in the gulf will have brought in a total of 30,000 tons of jellyfish, in what would be the most productive year yet.
And the season might even be extended another month, he said, given that the hot weather is creating favorable conditions for growth of plankton that the jellyfish feed on, in turn increasing numbers of jellyfish.
Each of about 560 fishing boats operating in waters around El Golfo de Santa Clara brings in an average of six to 10 tons of jellyfish, which is processed in a plant in San Luis Rio Colo-
rado for exportation to nations where it is consumed, Tirado said.
Each kilo of jellyfish — or 2.2 pounds — fetches a fisherman about four pesos, he said.
Located about 80 miles southwest of Yuma County, on the farthest reaches of the Sea of Cortez, El Golfo has grown increasing dependent economically on the tens of thousands of tourists who flock to its beaches on weekends, during Easter Week and over other holidays.
Still, its traditional industry is commercial fishing. Tirado estimates jellyfish harvests are employing nearly 2,000 fishermen in the El Golfo area.
“You see as much activity as you see during Easter Week,” he said. “(The jellyfish) has been very good for the community, but also for the region, because it also creates jobs in transportation, jobs in (the processing plant) and is a stimulus for various other sectors.”
Jellyfish could become still more important to El Golfo in the months and years ahead following the presidential and congressional elections in Mexico earlier this month, as current fishing restrictions in the Sea of Cortez could be extended or broadened, he added.
“It’s uncertain,” Tirado said. “It’s being said that the bans will continue, that there would be being a boycott of fish from Mexico because of the issue of the vaquita.”