Vaquita by Brooke Bessesen

Author:Brooke Bessesen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Island Press
Published: 2018-10-28T16:00:00+00:00

Social friction, which had been coiling like a viper, struck with ferocity on the evening of March 8, 2017. A La Voz article wrote (translated), “Last night virtually all the people of El Golfo de Santa Clara made a violent demonstration.”

The Obama administration’s claim that no gillnets would be allowed in Alto Golfo notwithstanding, corvina was still exempt, and the season was due to commence. The uprising came on the heels of an announcement that no corvina permits would be issued because fishermen had failed to produce their environmental impact study, called an MIA, on time. MIAs, long compulsory but never enforced, provided a legal loophole for SEMARNAT to delay the fishery.

Regardless of being pledged another $4.5 million in federal compensation to offset any financial loss, the community was anything but compliant. Fifteen vehicles were damaged or overturned, including several government trucks and patrol boats set ablaze. Smoke filled the streets “among cries against the insensitivity of the Federal Government that for two years has not let them work,” stated the La Voz article. Several officials were physically attacked, and three PROFEPA inspectors were said to have been beaten before their escape. “Municipal police who were to start their night shift had to return to their homes as they were not allowed into the village,” the article continued.

San Felipe fishermen were also affected by the corvina delay, and the riots in El Golfo de Santa Clara seemed to put everyone’s nerves on edge. When I arrived on March 12, I found myself tamping down feelings of apprehension. I had come to participate in the ghost net project, which, suspended since December, was scheduled to recommence. After a safety meeting with participating institutions, though, the effort was again postponed. The fishermen contractors for the project believed that it was too risky to be out on the water.

When I ran into Javier on the street, he said that things had definitely gotten worse, the dangers more palpable. He told me that during the ghost net project last fall, their boat was surrounded by four to five pangas, which he believes came from El Golfo de Santa Clara. The men were wearing masks and approached in a menacing manner. Although Javier gunned the motor and slipped away before any confrontation, he was still furious. “The Navy, they are supposed to be with us at all times. And they were not with us,” he reported. “We will not go out again until they get the bucheros out of the water. We live here, we are taking their nets. It is not safe.”

When I thanked Javier for his courage under such strain, he smiled nervously. “I just hope I don’t end up like a Bible character that is killed for doing what’s right.”

He wasn’t overreacting. Other people were nervous, too.

Friends of the Vaquita had recently changed its Facebook status to secret. That group was originally founded by US expat Dale Vinnedge in the spring of 2016, with the goal of uniting El Dorado Ranch residents into an action committee.

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