Punta Chueca

Yesterday I joined a visiting researcher, a few of his students, and many of the Kino Bay Team to visit a local Comcáac (or Seri, the indigenous people of Sonora) community. Their town is about an 50 minute drive on the bumpy dirt roads from Kino, but the scenery along the way is spectacular as the road weaves around the red rock hills and looks out towards Isla Tiburón. The town of Punta Chueca is actually the part of the mainland closest to Isla Tiburón, which is also Seri territory. There are roughly 400 inhabitants and the main sources of income come from fishing, artisan crafts, and tourism. 

The goal of the visiting researcher was to conduct interviews of the fisherman to gain a better understanding about the health of the local fishing industry, the impact of outside fisheries operations, and how they view outsiders in their community. This was accomplished through working with about 10 youths who are involved in conservation efforts, and have worked previously with this researcher. We met at one of their houses and had a meeting in which we reviewed the survey together and divided up into teams consisting of a few researchers and a Seri member. This would allow us to 1)find our way around, 2) know who was best to talk to, and 3) translate if there were any confusions. The local youths were very nice, educated, and really seemed interested in conservation efforts. 

Most people were willing to do the interviews. It was really interesting to hear some of the opinions of the older versus the younger generations. Everyone agreed that the fisheries are in real trouble.