That's My Story

REFLECTIONS ON A NEW YEAR

Originally Published In Western Outdoor News The Week of January 6, 2019

Having been down here now since the mid-90’s (where did the time go?) and running fishing and diving, I’m often asked what a think about the future here. More folks moving in. More fishing and boat traffic. More construction. More condos. More marinas planned, etc. etc.

As a businessman, sure, we all like the business and it’s good to have jobs for folks. However, as a Baja rat, like many of you, it’s hard not to be skeptical of the future. Heck, my outlook is downright dour sometimes.

They say you can’t fight city hall and after seeing so much waste over the years, stupid politics and greed, one has a tendency to throw their arms up in frustration. You smack your head against a brick wall and scream, “What are they thinking?”

Actually, my complaints probably sound like the same complaints you have up in the U.S. about resource and recreation management so you understand my wringing of hands.

But the advent of a new year is often reason for perspective, at least on several fronts. Maybe, just maybe, there’s some hope and some things to applaud.

On a personal level at ground zero, I gotta tell you this “catch-and-release” thing that seemed so alien several years ago seems to have caught on a bit.

Not only am I hearing more fishermen asking about it but, in some cases, demanding it. Or, in others asking to only take “some for dinner” or a small amount home.

“So much used to just sit in the freezer, why do I need so much fish?”

With each year, I see more of our clients releasing smaller fish or females as well. Wholesale slaughter of fish just for the sake of catching fish and then stacks of fish on the beach for bragging rights, doesn’t seem so important these days. Of course, I’m speaking in generalities, but there’s a glimmer that I never saw in the past.

Even more importantly, at least as far as sportfishing is concerned, more Mexican captains, especially the younger ones are more receptive to releasing fish; trying different techniques; lighter tackle and not overfishing certain areas.

It has to start with the captains. Many anglers don’t understand the delicate balance on the shoulders of a captain. His mandate is to find fish and catch fish. The “old school” mindset equated bigger tips in direct proportion to bloody carcasses in the fish box. He has to make a living. The better he does, the bigger the tips and the more trips he’ll get.

But now, captains are being judged with sometimes different standards. Numbers are important, but a captain has to know when enough is enough…from a legal perspective in respecting limits; to making sure his clients have a good time; to knowing when the clients want to release fish often communicated with difficulty because of the language differences.

It’s hard to say “oops!” once the gaff is struck. It’s hard to take back a club to the head. Dead fish don’t swim away.

In the past, even when clients didn’t want to keep all their fish, captains often lobbbied clients for the discarded catch for their own use or for sale to market. Bottom line is that there’s alot of conflict going on when a captain takes you out fishing, especially for the first time.

While many of the older captains I speak with base their decisions and daily fishing strategies on purely economic variables and knowing how much to do so that it generates the most tip money, with younger captains, I am hearing other things. It’s heartening to hear things like “environment,” “protecting the fishery,” and “responsibility.”

As one captain told me, “My family has always fished. I come from many generations of fisherman. I do not need a scientist to tell me that the ocean is not as good as it used to be. But I want my sons and their children to have the ocean. They can be fishermen if they want (He laughingly said he hoped they would go to school and get good office jobs!), but I want them to still have the ocean as I knew it. We cannot kill everything.”

That’s encouraging on so many levels. There’s hope.

Bring on the new year. Feliz ano nuevo everyone.

Jonathan Roldan is the Baja Editor of Western Outdoor News and his column appears every other week. He can be reached in La Paz at: riplipboy@tailhunter-international.com