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Mexico’s National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission updates fishing seasons

Riviera Maya, Q.R. — The National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission has updated Mexico’s fishing seasons. During the month of July, marine species such as the red sea urchin, crab, liseta, lobster and shark may be fished.

Others such as tuna, white and brown bass, snail, scallop and oyster begin their period closed season, therefore its capture and/or extraction is prohibited.

The National Commission for Aquaculture and Fisheries (Conapesca) reports the fishing of red sea urchin may be carried out from 00:00 on July 1, 2023 and until 24:00 hours on February 29, 2024, on the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula.

Conapesca points out that sea urchin production has fluctuated around 2,000 tons in recent years. Live weight production in the state of Baja California in 2021 was 1,733 tons, a contribution equivalent to 96% of national production.

It is estimated that 1,500 people directly participate in extraction and processing activities in that state. The international demand for this resource is satisfied with the export of the gonad production in its entirety, with the United States of America being its main destination.

Crab fishing, which is considered a complementary activity for artisanal shrimp fishermen when shrimp season is shut, is now permitted. Male crab fishing on the coasts of Sonora and Sinaloa may be carried out from 00:00 hours on July 1, 2023, while for female crabs, the capture may begin at 00:00 hours on July 10. The ban for both sexes of this species will begin at 00:00 on May 1, 2024.

Regarding the listeta or “lebrancha”, a resource with distribution on both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the country, and of which a large percentage of its production is destined for human consumption, its use in waters under federal jurisdiction in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit and Jalisco, begins at 00:00 on July 1, 2023.

For the states of Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas it will start at 00:00 on July 16 of this same year.

Lobster and shark fishing has already begun on the Yucatan Peninsula. As of July 1, lobster and shark fishing began in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. According to Conapesca, more than 6,000 fishermen along the Yucatan Peninsula rely on the fishing season.

Due to its value and volume, lobster is positioned respectively in places 7 and 29 of the national fishing production. In terms of exports, it is in the 4th place of the fishing species, with China and Hong Kong being its main destinations.

Regarding its use in waters of federal jurisdiction of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea that border the coasts of the states of Yucatán and Quintana Roo, the capture of lobster may be carried out as of 00:00 hours on July 1, 2023, and must be suspended at midnight on February 29, 2024.

In what corresponds to federal jurisdiction waters of the Gulf of California, on the coasts of Sonora and Sinaloa, as well as federal jurisdiction waters of the Pacific Ocean, from Nayarit to the State of Chiapas, lobster and shark fishing is suspended from 00:00 on July 1 and until 24:00 on October 30, 2023.

In the states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Quintana Roo, except for species with a permanent ban, the temporary ban period for sharks will begin at 00:00 on July 1, 2023 and will end at 24:00 on April 30, 2024.

Seasonal ban on tuna, white and brown bass, snail, scallop and oyster also begins in July.The tuna fishery is one of the most important in terms of catch volume and economic benefits. It constitutes a source of food, direct and indirect jobs, commerce and economic well-being both regionally and nationally.

The capture of tuna in waters under federal jurisdiction on the Pacific Ocean coast will be prohibited from 00:00 hours on July 29, 2023 and until 24 hours on October 8. The alternative period will be in force from 00:00 on November 9, 2023 until 24:00 on January 19, 2024.

Concerning white and brown sea bass, a resource of great importance and tradition in the Gulf of Mexico, the temporary suspension of catches in the area from the Chachalacas bar, Veracruz, to the Tonalá bar, located in the limits of the states of Veracruz and Tabasco, begins at 00:00 on July 1, 2023 and ends at 24:00 on August 15.

The conch resource is one of the heaviest landed in the state of Campeche, in 2021 alone, the state contributed 99.6% of the volume of conch captured in the Gulf of Mexico.

Towns with the highest production include Seybaplaya, Champotón, Campeche, Isla Arena and Isla Aguada. The period of temporary closure of all snail species on the coast of the state of Campeche begins at 00:00 on July 16, 2023, extending until 24:00 on March 14, 2024.

In the same way, from 00:00 on July 1, 2023 and until 24:00 on November 30 of the same year, the extraction of ax callus is prohibited in Bahía de Kino and adjacent areas in the state of Sonora.

The oyster is a benchmark in the sustained and ascending production of the national fishing and aquaculture sector. Its use and/or cultivation has become a great source of income and food for thousands of fishermen settled in communities of the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of California and Pacific Ocean.

The temporary closure measure for pleasure oysters will apply from 00:00 hours on July 15, 2023 and until 24:00 hours on November 15, in marine and estuarine waters under federal jurisdiction of the Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean, except for the south of Teacapán, Sinaloa, where the ban will apply from 00:00 on July 15, 2023, until 24:00 on February 15, 2024.

Regarding the use in reservoirs, starting at 00:00 on July 1, 2023, all species of fish existing in the reservoirs of the Aguamilpa and El Cajón dams may be used (with the exception of the sport-recreational fishing for black bass in its catch-release modality), located in Nayarit, as well as in the Yuriria Lagoon, in the state of Guanajuato.

Tilapia will maintain a temporary closure from 00:00 on July 1, 2023 until 24:00 on August 31, in federal waters of the Santa Rosa Dam in the state of Jalisco.