Enhance social wellbeing in small scale fisheries

Fisheries Improvement Activities - October 2023

Hagamos Más Por Santa Rosalía is a community foundation focused on supporting and strengthening local communities throughout the municipality of Mulegé in northern Baja California Sur, Mexico. This local foundation is funded by a combination of local and foreign donations. It is one of the few small foundations in Mexico authorized to issue tax-deductible donation certificates.

The foundation is currently working closely with the U.S.-based "Ecologists Without Borders" on sustainable fisheries efforts. Support for sustainable fisheries comes through identifying and promoting the use of national and international best practices, with the goal of significantly improving the health of the marine environment and the well-being of local coastal fishermen, as well as those who depend on them and their products. Achieving these objectives is in the hands of the fishermen themselves through a "bottom-up" approach, with both FHMSR and EcoWB facilitating and supporting these efforts.

Following up on the support provided to local fishermen in the management of lobster (research) permits, the fisheries authority submitted observations regarding documentation that fishermen needed to complete. The applications were renewed, and new requirements were included, which provided precise data on fishing gear and equipment to be used in the area.

Monitoring of species continues as part of our efforts to generate useful information for resource management, allowing us to assess the health of these ecosystems.

To effectively work with the fishing community, outreach and communication are key. In order to present the fisheries project and provide opportunities for information and engagement with the fishermen, a promotional stand was set up for members of the community.

The objectives were to:

a) Build a connection with the local community,

b) Raise awareness and educate, promoting sustainable practices,

c) Generate interest and support for the fisheries project,

d) Strengthen cultural identity, 

e) Encourage collaboration and promote the local economy.

As part of conservation activities and support for our fisheries, efforts have been made to recover discarded fishing nets to prevent marine plastic pollution and eliminate "ghost nets," which, when left unmonitored or abandoned at sea, become deadly traps for multiple species. This month, we have successfully recovered a total of 200 kilos of abandoned nets, thanks to funding from GGGI (Ocean Conservancy).

Thanks to funding from The Ocean Foundation, the construction of the marine laboratory at the local university (ITESME) will resume. A contractor was selected, and agreements were signed for the construction of the second phase. The aim is to establish a research space with the future possibility of creating a marine-focused degree program at the university.

We are immensely grateful for your invaluable support, as we still need to strengthen our efforts, and we continue to work with great enthusiasm.

Links:

• Pagina de Hagamos Mas por Santa Rosalia