PHOTO: NOM-029 is the official designation for the Shark Norma legislation that allows commercial boats to lay long lines closer to shore and keep and sell all by-catch.

SPITTING INTO THE WINDS OF PROGRESS


Originally Published the Week of June 25, 2007 in Western Outdoor News



Given all the controversy about the new Shark Norma laws and how upset we are about how it’s going to wipe out the Sea of Cortez as we know it, I wanted to share some info that was forwarded to me. It came from a piece written in the San Diego Union Tribune by Sandra Dibble. It’s pretty enlightening.

Ever since I started writing a few weeks ago, about the Shark Norma laws and it’s impact, I get tons of e-mails with people asking, “Can’t the Mexican government see what this will do?” “Do they realize what they are doing?” “Don’t they know how powerful the fisherman’s dollars are?” “Are they THAT crazy?”

Actually, the answer is Yes…Yes…Yes…and Yes! But there is method in the perceived madness. It’s really not madness at all. If we accept the premise that politics is politics and business is business worldwide and further that everyone acts in their own self-interest, this is all very easy to explain how such “madness” could be allowed. It all comes down to dollars. Commerical dollars vs. sport dollars.

There was time when our sport dollars really meant something. No doubt, sportfishing dollars opened the Baja doors to the world. But, they don’t mean that much anymore. Cry all you want about how you and your buddies aren’t coming back if there’s no fish but I tend to think it’s like spitting into the wind.

Check this out. You and your four buddies each drop $1000 for your summer fishing trip. That’s 4 grand into the Baja economy. Whoo-hooo! But, the real estate developer sells a half-million dollar house to a guy from Kansas; another to a couple from Washington; and two more to some folks from Orange Co. That’s TWO MILLION bucks into the economy. Mr. Developer will sell 20 of those lots this week.

Who has the political and economic clout? Not the fishermen. Who would YOU listen to if you were in power? In your own line of work, do you pay more attention to the big buck customer or the small dollar customer? All YOU really care about is some good fishing; a nice clean hotel; and some cold brew around the pool. The folks who bought the homes want a marina for their boat; a golf course; nice restaurants, a spa; McDonalds for the kids; a Walmart…you get the idea.

The paradox, however, is that so many gringo fishermen…the baby boomers, if you will, with disposable income…are also the same people now that are looking for the real estate and amenities. That’s you and me, Bunky! Second homes. Vacation homes. A spot of paradise on the beach. Beachfront Concepcion Bay is still more affordable than Newport Beach CA!

I make the point that we can no longer have both. Third-world folks could care less about saving sharks. They’re too busy trying to feed the familes. First world folks have extra money and education. They want to save the sharks…and the whales…and the pelicans and the environment. They know EXACTLY where their next meal is coming from. But, they also want all the perks of being first-world citizens…restaurants, golf courses, marinas, gas stations for our Suburbans and Humvees, etc. I can’t say I blame them. I like a good steak too!

So, we rise up and rail against evils of the new Shark Norma regulations that threaten to purge OUR Sea of Cortez. The Cortez of our childhood. The Cortez of our dads and Fred Hoctor, and Neil Kelly, Gene Kira and Ray Cannon. But, by-golly-gosh-darn, we’re also snapping up real estate in the Baja as fast as we can find it and pushing for all the things that make life good.

So, along comes Sandra Dibble’s article in the San Diego Union Tribune. It points to a MEXICAN study that says the Baja cannot sustain the kind of growth it’s experiencing and predicts a basic collapse of services and resources. Using words like environmental “time bomb,” it points fingers at it’s OWN government for once. (Usually, these studies are always done by someone else like the U.S. telling other people what’s wrong with them.) This particular study is done by a neutral, non-profit Mexico City think-tank of intellectuals called the Mexican Institute of Competitiveness (IMCO) and criticizes developers tendencies to appeal to the high-end tourist market with luxury hotels and golf courses.

Never mind Shark Norma wiping out the Sea of Cortez. Look inland. This study says that the Baja’s infrastructure for sewage, water, electricity and other resources simply cannot sustain what the future is bringing. Heck, the Mexican infrastructure can barely handle it’s own population. Traffic; pollution; inadequate water supplies; etc. are just a few of the impending problems…with water being the most abused and competitive resource. The typical golf course uses enough water for 6,000 residents.

Quoting from the article,”What this shows us is that this style of development is not economically competitive, and in the long run, you’re bringing in tourists who spend less and don’t recognize the value of the destination. “ Economically, although it means more jobs, competitiveness by hotels mean lower room rates and lower wages for locals.

Fueled largely by U.S. demand for real estate, the study points to such things as Loreto which is slated for 4 golf courses, 6500 new residences and 7000 more hotel rooms. At the current rate, in the next 40 years, Baja itself will see an increase of 31,000 to 400,000 new hotel rooms. Local government is doing little to regulate the growth. The boom is on! Forget sleepy little Baja, fish brothers and sisters.

Some of these folks are you and me! But believe me, most of the others could care less about Shark Norma or that you and I won’t have tuna or dorado to catch in 10 years. But we want our places in the sun and we want our fish in the water. That may ultimately be impossible to reconcile.

So, what do we do? I don’t know. I’m just the fishing guy. I don’t have a house on the beach, but I would like one someday. I also want to be able to still catch my pargo and roosters too. And I’m still going to bang my drum against Shark Norma too.

And it’s nice that Office Depot is now in town. And Costco. And Starbucks.

So maybe the answer behind Shark Norma is as simple as looking in the mirror. They know EXACTLY what they are doing. Business as usual. Supply and demand. Who do you think is eating all that fish they’re going to catch?



That’s my story. If you ever want to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com.

REAL MEXICAN FOOD (Made by REAL Mexicans!)

Originally published the week of June 18, 2007 in Western Outdoor News

PHOTO: To find real stuff, head towards the public "mercado" where everything from fruits to meats and fish to tacos are sold from little mom-and-pop stands!

“We want to eat REAL Mexican food.”

How often have I heard that from clients and friends who come to visit. Like what? Taco Bell?

“Well, you know. REAL Mexican food!” (Like made by real Mexicans?) Before living down here, that would be an easy answer. Now, I’m not sure how to respond.

Often when we go out for dinner, they’re surprised.

“They don’t bring you a big basket of chips and salsa?”
“You have to ask for it. It’s not like El Torito back in San Diego.”
“No beans?”
“No, when you order a plate of tacos, you get a plate of tacos. Many places do not even have frijoles.”
“I want a combo #5…you know…two enchiladas, a taco with rice and beans!”
“There is no combo #5. What’s on the menu is what’s on the menu.”

Sigh and exhale. They look at me with disappointment. Obviously, this is NOT what they had in mind. Sure, Cabo and many of the tourist meccas have menus catering to gringo-ized palates, but once you get past the city lights and go to the smaller places, you won’t find Combo #5 any more than you’ll automatically get served a lime in your beer (an American concoction, by the way).

If you want REAL Mexican food. Wake up early. Head out when the sun is just rising and the traffic dust is still dormant and the city has not yet stirred. Find the mercado publico (public market).

Most sizeable cities and towns in Baja have one. It’s a place of small booths and vendors. More like a permanent swap meet of things to eat than a true market, it’s a fascinating conglomeration that is a true cultural treat.

Often, it’s an open air-warehouse and before you even get there, you can smell the fragrances and aromas all vying for your attention and beckoning inspection. There’s the “Café Combate” stand packed with men sitting and standing around folding tables and chairs reading the daily news while sipping thick sweet coffee and arguing politics and soccer scores before heading off to work. For some, this is their “Cheers” bar all day long. Interestingly, “Café Combate” is the actual brand name meaning “fighting coffee” and the caffeine jolt it gives you can surely fire you up!

Walk down the inner aisles and vendors selling meats and chickens chop, pack and sort their wares. Not for the squeamish, the lines of steaks and ribs looks great, but don’t be surprised by the occasional cow’s head or pigs ears for sale next to beautiful pork chops, burger meat, and whole hens.

Here now are the fruit vendors with tomatoes, avocados, oranges and onions packed neatly in open crates like an indoor farmer’s market. “Veinte (20) pesos por kilo!” hawks one vendor as he holds up a head of bright green lettuce in one hand and a cantaloupe in the other. One vendor will yell a price and his neighbor next door will yell a counter price to attract the passersby. Everyone laughs. Bargaining is encouraged.

Past the dairy stands with cases of cold fresh milk, cream and numerous racks of fresh queso (cheese), ice cream and jars of amber-colored honey you walk. Fresh samples of queso fresco, queso ranchero and queso blanco are offered as well as sample dipping sticks of fresh orange or clover flavored honeys. This is better than walking through Costco!

The fish market booths are up next, clustered around ceramic slabs and workers in plastic aprons, rubber boots and gloves heave slabs of seabass, snapper, yellowtail and pargo onto ice while others cut, gut and fillet. Others use huge scoops to fill plastic containers with huge prawns, shellfish and squid. “Tenemos epseciales hoy por callo!” says one man smiling as you walk by. “We have a special on scallops today! Only 100 pesos for a kilo” “Give me half a kilo,” says one patron. “For 45 pesos!” he bargains. No no no laughs the vendor wagging his finger.

And then the food booths. Real Mexican-Mexican food! This isn’t the canned stuff and there is no combo plate. This is the stuff made my real Mexican mamas and grey-haired abuelitas (grandmas). Thick-armed, thick wasted, Mexican mamas who can cook the carb-free diet right outta you. You can smell the food long before you get there. Things being fried. Things simming in pots. Chiles. Garlic. Fresh ground masa. Limes and onions!

Nothing fancy. Most booths are smaller than a bedroom with the kitchens about the size of the galley in your RV. Folks line up to sit at long wooden bench or ceramic tables. Think soda fountain lunch counter south of the border style.

Plates don’t match silverware. Cups don’t match either. Coffee is served from a big pot (not a coffee pot) on the stove that never turns off and is ladled out with a metal cup. “Pass the salsa” and “Coca-cola por favor.” is the universal passcode.

Grandma chops over a sink smaller than my laptop computer. Tomatoes, onions and cilantro fall to her skilled blades. Mama is frying things in a pan encrusted with oil ; stuffing tacos; dumping crushed chilis into a blender to make salsa; ladling soup; grilling tortillas and taking orders from customers in a whirl of activity “Seven to three o’clock everyday” she winks at me!” knowing that I’m watching her ply her craft! She is perspiring profusely in the hot confines and takes a moment to wipe her brow with her apron before asking someone if they want more tortillas with their fried eggs. Daughter is working the register…a simple shoe box. You only pay after you eat and you tell them what you ate as a matter of honor. No receipts. No papers.

And the things that come out of all these little kitchens…white or red menudo thick with pork and hominy. Served with chunks of bread or tortillas. Trays of sopes (like open-faced tacos served on bread); tacos dorados (fried tacos stuffed with meats and lettuce and tomatoes then deep fried); empanadas (deep fried giant Mexican won-tons stuffed with potatoes and beef); tamales (hot and steamed in corn husks) are just a few of the favorites garnished with plates of fresh cilantro; minced onions and various green and red salas. Each booth has it’s specialties and all the locals have their favorite booths!

Lupe has the better menudo. But, Rocia’s place has better tamales. Carmenita will put her tomatilla salsa and empanadas up against anyone!

You get some on your shirt. You make a mess at the table. You go through a ton of napkins. Silverware doesn’t match but finger-eating never fails! You laugh with a new-found friend sitting next to you eating dark savory chicken mole that you promise yourself you will try next time!

You get up to go and the daughter tells you, “22 pesos porfavor!” (2.20 cents please!”) For all that food. You give her 30 pesos and tell her you’ll be back again. Someone quickly takes your stool at the counter.

You waddle past the stand with the carnitas (roasted pork) tacos and see it’s “two for one” Wednesday. You’re gonna have to come back tomorrow!


That’s my story. If you ever want to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com.

THE WINKING FOX

Originally published in Western Outdoor News the week of June 11, 2007

OK, so I fibbed. I promised last week that I would not write about politics, but my bad. There’s just too much going on and it’s all too important to let go by the wayside.

The big news on the Shark Norma (NOM-029) is….(drumroll)…NOTHING!

The governor of Baja has now jumped up to yell about it. So have more civic and business groups. There was another protest march this past week in Cabo San Lucas attended by several hundred folks and resulting in another old boat burned to make their point. But, it’s kinda business as usual although you can feel the general simmering going on and the disgust among those you talk to. But is it the sound of one –hand clapping?

Chuy Murrietta, himself a commercial fisherman from La Ventana said, “This is bad for all of us. We are just simple people trying to feed our families. If they let the big fleets and big boats come into our coastal waters there will be nothing for any of us. My brother and cousin fishes with the gringos. Most of my family have pangas and catch a few fish to sell to the market. We cannot compete with the big boats with all the hooks,”

“The government always tries to confuse us. This will hurt everyone. Once the fish are gone, they are gone, “ adds Pepe Cota, a panga fisherman from the East Cape.

“It hurts everyone…everyone. What are they thinking? If there are no tourists, we all lose,” said, “Aurelio Chavez, a Cabo San Lucas taxi driver.

You get the idea. Here’s what the coconut telegraph and the local papers are reporting. In one account the government in Mexico City is now saying this is only a “trial” for a few months to see how it works?

Say again? A trial? In the middle of summer? For what? To see how many marlin and dorado can be indiscriminately killed? And if it doesn’t work, then what? Who’s going to put back the thousands of fish no longer swimming the Cortez?

Let me put it in more tangible numbers. Those of you readers that have ever gotten into a wide open dorado bite know it’s conceivable to put 20, 30, 50 dorado in a boat if your sense of sportsmanship or local regulations did not intervene into the blood lust. Well, if 10 sport boats, were to catch 30 dorado a day that’s 300 fish right there.

Here in La Paz, on any given day of the season there can be 50 boats out on the water. If each of those caught 30 fish each, that’s 1500 mahi a day. In seven days, that’s 10,500 fish! And that’s with one hook and one rod per person.

Now…in this corner…

There’s 6000 commercial shark permits already issued by the Mexican government which, under the new law, will allow the Mexican commercial fishermen to keep all that dorado (and other species) by-catch. Each of those permits can be good for up to 6 boats.

OK, I’m no math whiz, but that’s 36,000 THOUSAND boats. Each of them with not one or two rods aboard. Not 3 or 4 rods aboard, but potentially, a thousand or so hooks EACH! Do the math.

And they want to do this as a “trial” for two months? I think I see the fox winking as he walks into the henhouse. “I promise this is just to see if I like eating chicken!” Hehehehe…Oh right.

The other argument we’re hearing is that it might take as much as a year to repeal the law. A year? As I understand, the law flew threw committee and was implemented in months without any public debate. So, it takes a year. Right through dorado, marlin, tuna, yellowtail, seasons not to mention migrating whales, dolphin and other sea critters. The brown stuff is getting thick and deep and I just went from deck shoes to full waders.

Why not a moratorium on the whole thing? Cease and desist. Everyone go back to your neutral corners before anyone else gets hurt. Study the thing. Get some credible people and statistics on the board then make a decision. I’m all in favor of saving the sharks, but the fine print needs to be adjusted.

Perhaps, the reason there’s the booming sound of silence from Mexico City is that they know something smells really fishy and even the Mexican people know they’re getting sold a bag of burro bandini.

SPEAKING OF THINGS THAT SMELL FRAGRANT – this just off the wires as I’m writing this! Because of so many screw-ups; delays; and a lot of pissed off people, the the new passport law intending to keep out terrorists but instead only terrorizing families trying to go on vacation, is in the process of being suspended. Basically the whole snafu has brought the understaffed U.S. immigration folks to their knees trying to keep up with the influx. Shoulda thought this one through better. In fact, by the time you’re reading this, it might have already changed. Good news for those of you on the bubble sweating your Baja vacations!

That’s my story. If you ever want to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com.

OBSERVATIONS FROM GROUND ZERO

Originally published the week of June 4, 2007 in Western Outdoor News

As I am writing this story, still no word from Mexico City about what is happening with the new NOM-029 (Shark Norma) laws that went into effect May 15th. I’ve gone over this the last two columns and how this new law could potentially devastate the Sea of Cortez under the guise of being a pro-environmental law to protect sharks.

When we went to press last week, a delegation representing the numerous interests here in Baja had left for Mexico City in the hopes of eliciting some change or perhaps a moratorium on the new law until further study takes place. So far, no word from the representatives.

Down here at ground zero, several things are happening. Quite a bit of counter-propoganda is starting to show up. Some of you that sent your protest letters through the Seawatch website (www.seawatch.com) are getting back letters from the other side touting the benefits of this law and citing reference after reference of doctors, scientists, and other notables in support of Shark Norma.

Honestly? It looks a lot like “padding” to me and incredibly transparent It’s like when you used to do reports in school and stuck tons of citations on it to make the most trivial point seem more important or just to make your cheesy research “thicker” for the teacher as if weight and size equated to substance.

There have been stories and editorials in the local Mexican papers documenting how important it is to “save the sharks” and this law only has the environment at heart. These articles appear as independent works, but their co-incidence of their timing cannot be dismissed.

I have had several folks write to me about their upcoming trips this season to Baja. They were concerned that perhaps there was a potential for open violence after the first week of the law witnessed some large demonstrations in Cabo San Lucas and a boat was burned in protest.

No worries. Relax The Baja looks just like it did a month ago. There are banners , black ribbons and signs around the Cabo area, but it’s business as usual for the most part. The demonstrations were good and made a point, but folks gotta get back to work. Dad has to go put tortillas on the table so he’s back driving his taxi or working on the docks or cooking sizzling carne asada at the local carrito (food cart). Ma can’t be marching when the kids gotta have clean clothes for school.

And that part kinda worries me. No threat to your fishing vacation or timeshare rental, but it’s exciting when everyone is all fired up. After that, it’s old news and it’s easy for apathy to set in.

Because honestly, (I hate to use the word), but the law is “sinister”. No one will notice the effects overnight. People band together when there’s an immediate palpable threat. It’s not like the marlin will suddenly disappear or that most folks will notice that dorado fishing is tapering off.

It’ll be gradual so the effects won’t be felt right away. By the time folks realize that each year there are more vacant rooms at the resorts or that fewer fishing boats are going out and the bars and restaurants just aren’t as full, it’s too late. It’s too late to hit the brakes when the car is already going over the cliff.

And the fish… The fish are gone. And marlin don’t just grow back because politicians suddenly go slap their foreheads and go “Whoops! My bad. I’m was wrong! Gee sorry!”

And suddenly repealing Shark Norma isn’t going to do diddly. But maybe by then, no one will care anyway. The Baja will be a 1000 mile long stretch of condos and timeshares. And won’t that be something.

Unless something drastic happens, I promise I won’t write about this next week!

That’s my story.

If you ever want to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com.