CEDO Press Release: Ángeles Sánchez, Efraín Wong y Paloma Valdivia
A group of 6 coastal fishermen from the communities of Bahía San Jorge, Puerto Peñasco, and the Golfo de Santa Clara recently took part in the exchange event entitled De Pescador a Pescador (Fishermen to Fishermen), with support from the Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans (CEDO). The gathering was created to foster learning and an exchange of experiences among coastal fishermen from Mexico, as well as from some parts of Central and South America.
The De Pescador a Pescador program was held for the first time in 2003 in Bahía Kino, thanks to an initiative of the COBI organization (Community and Biodiversity) which later was joined by the Niparajá Organization. This year’s event took place from April 13th – 18th in La Paz, Baja California Sur and centered around the theme “Organization is Key”, while emphasizing the need to strengthen organizations within the fishing sector in order to overcome current challenges.
Event participants stated the need to have leaders among fishermen who are responsible, honest, and with a spirit of service who work toward the common good in order to foster appropriate function of fishing organizations while continuing to form future leaders. Another of the most relevant themes of the event was that of women in managing fishing organizations, the need to carry out effective steps with the government, and promoting compliance with fishing regulations by not solely strengthening inspection and surveillance mechanisms but rather encouraging fishermen and nurturing values.
As a result of activities at the exchange, the fishermen made the commitment to:
- Actively participate in education and training experiences;
- Comply with internal regulations of cooperatives;
- Appropriate management of financial resources allocated by the government;
- Look to provide added value to fishing products;
- Promotion of educational campaigns among consumers to prevent the sale and purchase of illegal products; and
- Combating corruption.
CEDO will continue to support this group of fishermen, who represent the region, in order to provide follow-up with the commitments made.
Coming together is the beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success – Henry Ford
For more information, contact CEDO:
Telephone in Mexico: (638) 382 0113 / (638) 382 0113
Email: paloma@cedointercultural.org
