Leopard Grouper in Loreto

With the start of the management plan revision for Loreto Bay National Park I thought it would be good to post a link to this important paper on Leopard Grouper:

Viability Analysis of Reef Fish Populations Based on Limited Demographic Information

Despite the title this relatively straight forward scientific paper documents the condition of Leopard Grouper in Loreto Bay National Park. While the populations of fast growing, migratory, yellowtail, dorado, and sailfish appear to be maintaining decent populations and produce outstanding sport fishing opportunities, the inshore reef dwelling fish are vulnerable to sport fishing and are devastated by netting.

The new management plan needs to protect Leopard Grouper and other depressed populations from consumptive use. Its a perfect opportunity to experiment with no-take catch and release areas to provide for continued sport fishing - the economic base of Loreto, while rebuilding populations. Obviously, elimination of inshore gill netting in these depressed populations is key to preventing further declines.

Common Sense

Here's an article I found in the El Sudcaliforniano. Basically it says that a local conservation organization, Grupo Ecologista Antares, has called for a moritorium on commercial fishing when fish are concentrated in spawning periods. Species like Cabrilla and Yellowtail form large dense schools where communal spawning and egglaying take place.

Protecting spawning schools of fish from commerical fishing - especially in a National Park - seems like common sense to me.

Propondrá GEA que se vede la captura de algunas especies
El Sudcaliforniano
26 de enero de 2009
Javier Chávez Davis

Loreto, Baja California Sur.- Para evitar el saqueo de especies marinas en épocas de reproducción, el Grupo Ecologista Antares (GEA A.C.) propondrá a las autoridades que se vede la captura de algunas especies en un periodo de entre tres y cinco semanas en ciertas zonas del Parque Nacional Bahía de Loreto.

El presidente de esta organización no gubernamental, Fernando Arcas Sainz, señaló que entre las especies que sufren los estragos de la pesca comercial en época de apareamiento están las siguientes: cabrilla, garropa, pargos, caracol burro, madre perla, almeja chocolate y burra.

Detalló que en los meses de abril y mayo, por ejemplo, muchos pescadores loretanos acostumbran capturar gran cantidad de cabrilla, sin saber que la alta presencia de estos peces en algunos puntos, se debe a que están llevando a cabo su proceso de apareamiento, y si se les pesca pues se interrumpe el proceso de reproducción, poniéndolas en grave riesgo.

GEA lleva está llevando a cabo en este momento un estudio para ubicar las fechas y puntos de agregación reproductiva de varias especies marinas, con el objetivo de dar a conocer la importancia de que tengan la oportunidad de multiplicarse.

La veda que propondremos pretende resguardar básicamente a ejemplares que son de mucho interés para la explotación comercial, principalmente cabrilla y pargo,
indicó.

Punta Abreojos and Campo Rene

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The region west of Laguna San Ignacio has been one of my favorite parts of Baja for some time now. A lot of our travels have been in my non-air conditioned truck. The cool breezes of the Pacific Coast have provided relief from the heat and humidity of the Sea of Cortez on many trips.

The small community of Abreojos provides basic supplies. The town is prosperous due to its careful management of its Lobster and Abalone fisheries. Its not easy to get here - you can drive in but there is no bus service. Private planes can land at the airstrip next to the town (watch out for baseball games) or at Campo Rene. If you are adventurous you could take the bus to San Igancio and ask around for a ride.

The best fishing is in the late summer or early fall. The fly angler must be self sufficient. As far as I know I may be the only person to fly fish here. I would love to hear from anyone else who has tried.

Campo Rene located a few miles from town at the mouth of the mangrove-lined Estero Coyote has basic rooms and slightly salty somewhat hot showers for about $15 US/night. They also have a restaurant and bar, kayaks, peddle boats, and a boat ramp.

The mangrove-lined estero is loaded with fish but the fishing may be impacted by gill netting in the spring. Birds, clams, and sea turtles are abundant in the area and there are plenty of coyotes around as the bay's name suggests. The bay holds sand bass, snook, and sometimes halibut. At the entrance of the bay I've caught roncador (yellow finned croaker), corvina, surf perch, and plenty of highly toxic bullseye puffer fish. Pangas are inexpensive and target yellow tail, yellowfin tuna, dorado, and giant black bass that range up to 300+ pounds. Larger halibut can be found beyond the break at the main surfing point.

The mangrove channels of Estero Coyote and Estero La Bocana are great areas for kayak fishing.

Lobster, abalone, and oysters are available but be careful the cooperativa that manages these fisheries fiercely protects them from poachers. They can be purchased in season from the cooperative in Abreojos.

It can be windy and cool here so come prepared. If the Pacific fog rolls in things can be damp in the mornings.

I wrote about Campo Rene a little in my earlier post:

Baja Lunch

Loreto Fishing Map

Here's a map I put together a while ago showing the northern fishing spots where many of Loreto's dorado are caught. The locations in red also produce jurel (yellow tail) and other species although pangas rarely venture to the outermost spots during the rough winter conditions.

Surf Perch

The thing about fish in Baja is that they can be agressive. This little surf perch is one of the smaller fish I have caught in Baja. Other small fish include bait-sized baby jurelitos (yellowtail), a rainbow wrasse that was barley bigger than my fly, and several sardina that got snagged when I was fishing around bait schools.