Not an everyday occurrence, but it barely raises eyebrows when a yellowfin tuna or dorado is taken from the beach in this area.
Ray Cannon wrote about the area and its steeply sloped contoured bottom plunging to 100 fathoms a mere quarter of a mile from shore.
Punta Arena, often
referred to as the Lighthouse, has been a long-time angling favorite for locals
and visitors alike. Ray Cannon wrote about the area and its steeply sloped contoured
bottom plunging to 100 fathoms a mere quarter of a mile from shore. Nowhere
else in the Sea of Cortez will you find depths that close to the shore. Not an
everyday occurrence, but it barely raises eyebrows when a yellowfin tuna or
dorado is taken from the beach in this area. Trophy-sized roosterfish are often
landed here practically is the shadow of the towering lighthouse.
A little farther
down the beach toward Baja's tip, Cabo Pulmo was another of the jewels of the
Baja mentioned by Cannon. The pristine
beaches of Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park border a shallow bay that is home to
one of only three hard-coral reefs that exist in North America. Surrounded by an
undeveloped desert and a remarkable mountain range, the Park was established in
1995 after the over-fishing by commercial and recreational fishermen caused an
alarming decline in marine life. At one time it was slated for development, but
thanks to the efforts of local and international conservation groups, it is now
a protected national park, a regenerative area for hundreds of species which
includes four of the seven species of sea turtles that arrive here to nest on
its beaches, or breed and forage in surrounding waters.
In the 16 years
since Cabo Pulmo was protected, the fish community has recovered and is now considered
among the most healthy in the Sea of Cortez making a case for the importance of
protected marine areas.
For the past
several years much of the property, including the beachfront from the
Lighthouse at Punta Arena in East Cape to the northern edge of Cabo Pulmo, has
been purchased by a group from Spain.
The Alicante
(Spanish) group, Hansa Urbana, with approval already granted by environmental
authorities planned a mega-development covering
3,800 hectares, an area the size of the city of San Jose del Cabo, the largest
of all of the proposed developments in the Cape region. The project will
include a marina dug into the coast, golf courses, homes, hotels and condos, a
new airport for private jets plus a commercial center and a small city to house
workers. Future projections include upward of 20,000 people adjacent to
Cabo Pulmo and Punta Arena with up to 30,600
hotel rooms, or 10,200 more homes.
In an area that is
sparsely populated that contains fragile ecosystems and a limited water supply,
a larger population is not sustainable. Along with many other
locals, the director of the Cabo Pulmo National Park, Javier Alejandro
Gonzalez, voiced his concerns that a development of this magnitude would
overwhelm the fragile eco-system of the area. Their views were shared by a group of environmental NGOs that
have formed a coalition to fight for the reef and to stop the development.
That group is led by the U.S. [NGO] Wildcoast;
the Mexican [NGOs] Niparajá, Pro Natura Northwest, Community and Diversity,
[and] Friends of Cabo Pulmo; [and] academics from Scripps Center in the U.S.
and the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur.
Fay Crevoshay, the Communications Director of the
Wildcoast, argued that the several golf courses for the tourist citadel will
have "used chemicals that will flow into the sea when it rains and will kill
the coral."
She also said it is "schizophrenic" for
Mexican authorities [to have created] a national park, which they preserved for
years, and then "they grant a permit to a developer in order to destroy
it."
According to the Gringo Gazette, a local
newspaper in Los Cabos, Representative Elvira Quesada of Semarnat, the Ministry
of Environment and Natural Resources at the federal level, said that the Cabo
Cortés development is currently being reviewed by more than 100 scientists from
many different organizations who are working on the environmental impact
statement which is needed for the project to continue. This is the first time
that various oversight agencies have worked together on an impact statement. More
studies are needed besides the impact statement and they will take years to
complete. For the project to continue, these studies must prove beyond any doubt that no harm will come
to the protected Cabo Pulmo Marine Park.
It appears that with the Government’s renewed
interest, along with the economic woes of Cabo Cortes, Cabo Pulmo Marine Park,
along with one of the richest fishing and diving sites in Baja California Sur,
will remain safe for a while longer.
