Summary
This joint order of the environment and fisheries ministries permanently bans gillnets, including the large-mesh nets called agalleras, from a five-sided area of the northern Gulf of California. It also bans small-boat fishing at night, requires monitoring devices on small boats and limits where boats may land. It replaced the temporary suspension that had been in force since 2015.
Why it matters
This is the order that turned the emergency gillnet suspension into a permanent ban. The 2020 agreement later repealed it and carried the same area forward with stricter rules.
Key findings
- Art. 2 permanently bans gillnets, including agalleras, in the area, and bans carrying them in the area or to nearby towns and fishing camps.
- Exception: encircling nets for curvina golfina and sierra, allowed only where fishing permits authorize them after a technical opinion from INAPESCA.
- Art. 3 bans small-boat fishing, sport fishing included, between 21:00 and 05:00 each day.
- Art. 4 requires fishers to report lost gear to the nearest CONAPESCA office within 24 hours of reaching port, and Art. 5 requires an operating monitoring system on permitted small boats.
- Art. 6 lists ten landing sites: five at Golfo de Santa Clara, four at San Felipe and one at El Indiviso/Bajo Río.
Caveats
The order covers small boats only and applies to the five-sided area in Art. 1, not to the whole Gulf. It was signed on 21 June 2017 and repealed by the 24 September 2020 agreement (transitory article Octavo).