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Environment

Protected Sportfish Face Commerical Pressure In Mexico

Decline In Commercial Species Drives Industry To Abudant Sportsfish

Protected Sportfish Face Commerical Pressure In Mexico
A man who owns a sportfishing business in Mexico says Dorado and other species are being caught and imported into the U.S. illegally.

Vince Radice has lived at the Sea of Cortez for nearly 22 years and operates his business there.

He said Dorado is one of six sportsfish species - along with Marlin, Sailfish, Swordfish, Roosterfish and Tarpon - Mexico puts off limits to commercial fishing.

"But the problem is the Mexican fisheries has over-exploited a lot of their other traditional fisheries," said Radice, who operates his sportsfishing business out of Guaymas. "And so now the commercial fishing industry is coming for the last relatively abundant species in the Gulf of California - the sportsfishing species."

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He is concerned the practice will hurt tourism and the marine ecosystem.

Radice said the abundant sportsfishing species are at risk of becoming depleted unless the illegal commerical fishing is stopped.

"It is a concern for people who care about the conservation of the Gulf of California," said Radice. "It is a concern for people on both sides of the border that care about conservation of marine resources."

Radice has produced a documentary of the illegal fishing and consulted with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about the issue.

He will talk about the problem at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego at Noon Tuesday, January 10, as part of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation's free lecture series. The lecture is in 4500 Hubbs Hall (a conference room across from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography library).