This cultural attitude towards sea turtles compounds other threats to the animals, like those associated with climate change, boat strikes, and bycatch. A dead turtle can provide food for the fisher’s family or draw a considerable profit on the local market. It is a common occurrence for fishers to kill turtles they incidentally catch in their nets and sell them. Sea turtles in this part of Mexico have historically been used as meat, their shells used as gifts to celebrate life events, or discarded as nuisance species when caught as bycatch. He was an avid sea turtle poacher, frequently reeling in 15 to 20 turtles a day to sell for profit on local markets.
As he puts it, at one point in time, “he was the worst of them.” As a fisherman, he lacked the high regard he now holds for marine life. But, he explains, that wasn’t always the case. The crew illustrate their daily grind to us, setting their fishing nets in the water and collecting buckets of oysters, while also teaching our team about the patterns of the bay, sharing their intimate understanding of the ocean.Īyón and his crew are working with Blue Turtle Sustainable to collect bycatch data for their operations, to make improvements to the sustainability of their fishery, which could include adjustments to their fishing zones or the implementation of turtle-safe equipment. He’s welcomed me and my colleagues from Blue Turtle Sustainable - which buys seafood from local fishermen who, in exchange, collect bycatch data on sea turtles - to spend an entire day on the water with him and his crew. Ayón is a stocky individual dressed in a green t-shirt with the words “research in progress” across the chest, sporting a bright red San Francisco 49ers baseball cap. Rodolfo Ayón, a fishing captain who has lived within the Cerro Cabezón fishing community his entire life, sits on the edge of the dock, gazing off across the Navachiste Bay that serves as a backdrop for the fishing village he calls his home.
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