Chiquilá, Q.R. — Fishermen and nautical tourist providers in the port of Chiquilá have asked authorities to dredge the Yalahau Lagoon. The local boat owners say low tide constantly affects the area, making it impossible for them to leave to work.
Germán Herrera Olivar, the President of the tourist cooperative Yalim Kin, said that the cold fronts are the ones that cause most low tides in the lagoon, which causes the boats to become stranded in the mud.
“Sometimes they last several hours or days and it is a real problem since it is difficult to take them (the boats) to the water to carry out our activities, either to go fishing or to provide a tourist service,” he explained.
Herrera Olivar added that the receding water affects around 400 tourist and fishing boats whose owners have requested the dredging of the lagoon for years. The most affected area, he said, is the shelter port where hundreds of boats are left anchored after fishermen and tourist service providers finish for the day.
“The problem is more noticeable in the Port of Chiquilá where the water recedes, where fishing and tourist boats dock, which leaves them sitting in mud, which then requires several hours wait for the water to return in order to maneuver without difficulty,” he explained.
He said that the lagoon divides Holbox with the continental massif and its constant emptying shows that it is necessary to dredge it, mainly the vessel routes between the Port of Chiquilá and the island.
