WHALE REPORTED TRAPPED IN
LOS CABOS COMMERCIAL GILL NET

Jan. 29, 2005, Bob Grimes, San Jose del Cabo sport fishing, Baja, Mexico Commercial Fisheries Report:

On Tuesday, a whale over 30 feet long was reported in a local paper to be found near Punta Gorda completely wrapped up in a gill net. I could not verify if it survived. The gill netters are being somewhat secretive.

The Mexican sportfishing captains report that a panga from La Playita went out early and came back almost immediately, full of huachinango. They concluded that it got the huachinango from a gill net. The huachinango will soon be gone. The fear is that the gill netters will also decimate the roosterfish and sierra that have been present inshore, as they frequently have done in the past.

A number of commercial divers have been working hard stripping the inshore area east of San Jose del Cabo of any fish, mollusk, or crustacean that remains.

Residents out near Bahia Las Destiladeras reported a small but very noticeable oil spill near the shore. The Mexican sportfishing captains believe that one of the shrimp boats which have been aggressively dragging their nets close to shore in that area decided to change oil, and dumped the old oil in the water.

Recently it had been said that the long time port captain in San Jose Del Cabo was going to be replaced. The Pesca official from La Paz who showed up a few months ago and said he was going to enforce the sportfishing regulations has not come back. Sportfishing boats from some of the operations at La Playita continue to flagrantly violate the regulations. They will take 20 baby dorado per fishermen, instead of the two allowed by law, when the opportunity presents itself.

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from San Jose del Cabo and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for San Jose del Cabo may be found at Mexfish.com's main San Jose del Cabo page.