Officially, as of Friday, December 20, Yucatán will have a marine reserve for octopus, grouper, lobster, sea cucumber, and other declining fishing species, announces the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader) of Mexico in the agreement promulgated today, December 19, 2024, in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF).
From that day on, when the agreement will come into force, all commercial fishing will be legally prohibited in Actam Chuleb, which includes marine waters under federal jurisdiction off San Felipe and Dzilam de Bravo, municipalities of Yucatán, reports Sader.
The port of Dzilam de Bravo is located 108 km northeast of Mérida, while San Felipe is 198 km from the Yucatecan capital itself and 134 km, by road, from Dzilam.
This marine sanctuary has existed for 29 years. It was founded by fishermen from San Felipe as the Actam Chuleb Marine Reserve, now bearing the official name of the Actam Chuleb Temporary Partial Fishing Refuge Zone.
The federal declaration recognizes the fishermen of San Felipe, who, Sader says, on April 26, 1995, founded Actam Chuleb as a community marine reserve to allow selective fishing of species with hooks during cold fronts and closed seasons, which are times of low income for fishermen in the region.
It also recognizes the children of the founders of the reserve because, Sader indicates, they processed the legal recognition of the Temporary Partial Fishing Refuge Zone, in order to “improve its protection and surveillance.”
Actam Chuleb, Sader highlights, is an area of dunes and seagrasses that allow the growth of juvenile fish and other species of economic interest.
According to Sader, Actam Chuleb borders the North and East with the Gulf of Mexico; to the West, with the coastline of the municipality of Dzilam de Bravo, and to the South with the coastlines of the municipalities of San Felipe and Dzilam de Bravo.
Likewise, Sader highlights that the declaration of Actam Chuleb as a Fishing Refuge Zone would help the conservation and sustainable use of various fish populations, by increasing abundance and improving growth and reproduction rates in adjacent areas, which would enhance the recovery of populations of deteriorated species, such as grouper, snapper, octopus, lobster and sea cucumber. In addition, it will improve the protection of species that are in danger of extinction, and increase fishing productivity in areas adjacent to the refuge zone.
TYT Newsroom
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