THE OUTDOORS : Mexico Cracking Down on Commercial Fishing for Marlin

Amid growing complaints by Mexico’s tourist industry about a lack of adequate fisheries management and the subsequent depletion of species popular among recreational fishermen, it appears that the country is finally taking a hard-line stance against illegal fishing by commercial fishermen, particularly the Japanese syndicate Copemapro.

“We’ve been fighting for the last eight years against commercial fishing for marlin,” said Luis Bulnes, owner of the Solmar Hotel in Cabo San Lucas and head of the Los Cabos Hotel Assn. “The law is very clear--species like marlin, dolphinfish (dorado) and roosterfish are reserved for sportfishing.”

The problem, Bulnes says, stemmed from the previous administration’s failure to enforce the law and its granting of permit extensions to known violators. The administration of former President Miguel de la Madrid, replaced recently by Carlos Salinas de Gortari, had been accused by sportfishing interests of corruption and failure to protect the valuable marine resources.

But last March the government moved to revoke all permits previously granted to the Japanese company, whose long-line gear is being blamed for the indiscriminate killing of several species popular among sport fishermen.

Adm. Luis Cubra Palma of the Mexican navy issued the directive, which stemmed from the seizure of the Copemapro V, a vessel of Mexican registry but operated by the Japanese.

The Copemapro V had been observed fishing illegally within the 50-mile sportfishing-only zone by a Mexican navy vessel, the crew of which witnessed Japanese crew members cutting their lines, apparently to avoid being caught with an illegal catch.

The ship was detained at Cabo San Lucas, where its records were determined to have been falsified. According to the log, there were 820 marlin aboard, but inspection of the fish holds revealed 195 tons of fish, including more than 6,000 marlin, most of which averaged just 66 pounds.

According to the International Game Fish Assn., that represented more than twice the total weight taken by marlin fishermen each year off the Baja Peninsula. The IGFA said that the catch also included two tons of shark fins, minus the sharks.

The boat, however, was mysteriously freed hours later and a subsequent investigation revealed that Silvia Ramirez Necochea, undersecretary of fisheries, had authorized the release.

Bulnes and the Los Cabos Hotel Assn. then compiled the 500 or so documents it had gathered over the years pertaining to Copemapro and presented the case to Maria de los Angeles Moreno, secretary of fisheries who reportedly has close ties to Salinas.

Days later, several high-ranking officials were fired, among them Ramirez Necochea. The Copemapro V was fined $85,000 and its equipment, worth an estimated $200,000, was confiscated.

Bulnes said the Japanese long-liners are currently staying outside the country’s 200-mile limit--a claim disputed by some residents who say they can hear the commercial fishermen talking regularly on the VHF radio--and that the Los Cabos Hotel Assn. is prepared to discuss the matter further with Salinas and Moreno when Salinas visits La Paz later this month.

Meanwhile, sportfishing fleet operators in Mazatlan, west-southwest of Los Cabos on the mainland Mexican Riviera, have been equally embittered by the Japanese incursions. Not only have the long-liners cut into the marlin catch, they have also reduced the once-abundant numbers of sailfish, yellowfin tuna and dorado that have been attracting North American anglers there for nearly half a century.

Eric Heimpel, president of the Star Fleet, echoed the sentiments of the Baja association. Heimpel told Warren Girard, a visiting Times news editor, that if illegal sweeps of coastal waters are not firmly curbed by the new administration in Mexico City, American and Canadian anglers and their families would be taking their vacations to more fertile--and more expensive--fishing grounds in the Caribbean and South Pacific.

But Mazatlan fleet operators have been buoyed recently by the appointment of Fisheries Secretary Moreno, a conservationist who is reputed to be solidly in favor of sportfishing and tourism.

More support for the sportfishing interests came earlier this month from Isaac Cuanalo, director of the Mexican Maritime Confederation, devoted to sports and leisure activities in the waters off the nation’s Pacific, Atlantic and gulf coasts.

Blasting the Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese commercial fisherman sweeping Mexican waters as “predators,” Cuanalo told the English-language Mexico City News that the foreigners are sacking those species that bring eager fishermen and millions of tourist dollars down from the north every year.

Outdoor Notes

World-record fish taken from Southland waters, as approved recently by the International Game Fish Assn.: Dan Kodota’s 19-pound largemouth bass, caught last January at Lake Castaic, a class record for 20-pound test line; Bobbie Bonson’s 37-pound 11-ounce California halibut, caught last December off Huntington Beach, a class record for 16-pound line. . . . Ben Mintz of the Federation of Fly Fishers says one of the hottest spots this month has been little Lake Manzanita in Lassen National Park, Northern California. He said that the lake is having a calabaetis hatch that has hungry browns and rainbows up to 24 inches cruising recklessly among wading anglers. Regulations require the use of single barbless hooks and artificial lures only. The keeper limit is two fish under 10 inches.

The DFG plans to spend $52,000 on a new access site for the disabled along the West Fork of the San Gabriel River. The project, which includes new restroom facilities, ramps and fishing structures along the wild-trout section of the creek, is scheduled for completion by the end of summer.