|
| "Norma 029" (Bill 029) |
| October 14, 2002. | This
bill has been approved and was supposed to go into effect on September 12th but
has been postponed until November 12th, to give interested parties and the public
a chance to express their opinion with regard to this bill. This new legislation
will enable vessels to fish for shark within one kilometer of the entire Mexican
coast, with indiscriminate fishing gear - gill nets and longlines with thousands
of hooks, catching anything and everything that swims in the ocean. Without
the proper controls in Mexico, it is virtually impossible to cover all the areas
where fishing takes place. As we speak the government is pushing for this bill
that supposedly protects the shark fishery, which is already extensively depleted
throughout the country. The authorities say that this bill will protect the shark,
but the point is that there is no surveillance or patrol of the Mexican coast,
so with or without this law, the problem is not solved. If this bill is given
final approval it will enable boats to fish for sharks with an allowed by-catch
of other species. This would directly influence the species reserved for Sportfishing
within the 50 mile zone - this includes swordfish, all marlin species, sailfish,
dorado, roosterfish and others. What this means is that
with a shark permit they can "accidentally" catch (by-catch) other species
which are not their target and legalize this by-catch with the given permit and
legally sell it …without a problem. In short this law is a way to disguise
the illegal fishing of species reserved for Sportfishing and enables commercial
fishermen to use destructive equipment such as gill nets and longlines that also
kill turtles and birds indiscriminately. In short this
law is a threat to all the species that swim in the ocean and we mean all! The
fishing techniques proposed have been banned in many parts of the world because
of their threat to marine wildlife. If this law goes into effect, the tourism
industry will be hurt forever and the Sea of Cortez will become the Sea of Death.
This law will allow boats to come as close as they wish, to kill whatever they
gill net or hook. Greed is the motivating factor and we cannot stand quietly by
and allow this to happen, no matter what. We ask you
to take a few minutes of your valuable time, to make your voice heard and join
it to ours. Please write a few lines saying that you are against "Norma 029"
to the following list of addresses and send a copy to us too. It would be helpful
to say that you will not bring your dollars to a place with such a terrible law.
So many people love this place for its incredible beauty and fishing, so take
the time to help us. Thank you. Marco
& Tracy Ehrenberg and the whole Pisces team. IF YOU
ARE CONCERNED, PLEASE WRITE TO:
pisces@piscessportfishing.com (Pisces Fleet)
gobernador@gbcs.gob.mx (Governor of Baja California Sur)
ramaya@senado.gob.mx
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