We are into our third week as guests in this very Mexican fishing village. The waterfront is around 2 miles long and lined with these small fishing boats.
The Launches are all 26 to 30 feet long with high free board and power-full out boards. The fishing ground is about 5 or so miles out to sea and they make the trip one or two times a day. I would venture these are very sea worthy little craft.
The fisherman are drift netters. This palapa is a shelter for drying the nets complete with a scare crow to keep the birds away
When the launches are out on the water at night they run with out lights. We have watched them out on the bay at night only turning lights on when they detect another boat engine. The lighting system is a stick with a taillight jerry rigged at the top and connected to a battery.
A twenty six ft boat, 4 men, a net that is probably 8 feet deep by 500 ft long and a big pile of fish. Throw in waves of any size and it could get pretty dangerous.
The fishermen do all this for a paltry 4 pesos a kilo... at today's exchange rate that is about 3.5cents a pound!
They bring their nets in and return to the beach where they take the fish out of the net. The catch could be Salt Water Cat Fish, Sea Bass or Red Snapper maybe.
A days work is not over until the nets have been cleaned and folded into the bottom of the boat ready for another trip to the fishing grounds.
This is a Conch harvesting operation. The Conch are raked off the floor of the bay and shoveled into 50 lb. bags for shipment.
This gentleman was very insistent that I take some samples.
Next to the Conch place is a crabbing outfit. The crab they harvest here is the Blue Crab, similar to the crab in the Chesapeake Bay.
All of this seafood finds its way to market. This market was a few hundred yards up the beach from the campground. These three young ladies with a taste for fish are Susan, Jane and Emma from Ireland. They are traveling by motor home to Panama and back for the next 6 months.
Container of fish bound to the elegant restaurants of Mexico City
Susan, Jane and Emma's kilo of fish. Dad, Ian said he had his eye on a hot dog for dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment