The commitment that the fishermen of the Jalisco Coast improve their income with direct marketing is a reality with the establishment of new facilities in Punto Pérula and Careyitos.
The head of the office of the Jalisco Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER,) Álvarez García, stated that these works respond to the demands of the fishing producers to improve the commercialization of their catch products, in addition to the fact that in some cases they complement the support channeled into the replacement of their vessels.
He also stressed that in these works “the benefit is for the fishermen, because they will be able to offer their fresh products, just taken from the sea and at the lowest cost. This market also has the benefit of already having a boardwalk with great international tourist impact, and that can greatly benefit this production chain.”
The point of sale of fishery products in Punta Pérula is located within the boardwalk established on this beach in the municipality of La Huerta, and will benefit fishermen from the cooperatives of Estero Los Caimanes, Ejidal La Fortuna, El Playón, La Jaiba Azul, Cabo Corrientes and Las Nueve Islas. These organizations include 114 fishermen.
The Ministry of Agriculture invested 960,000 pesos in equipping six commercial premises that were built by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works (SIOP.)
In the case of Careyitos, Governor Enrique Alfaro highlighted the agreement between fishermen and private owners for a special project that allows the opening of the beach, which also allowed a public work by SIOP for 9.5 million pesos in various spaces, including the point of sale of seafood.
In this town, Álvarez García explained, SADER Jalisco invested 2.3 million pesos in equipment for the point of sale; in addition to the acquisition of transport equipment for fishery products and their conservation. This commitment was assumed since 2019, when the Secretariat was headed by Alberto Esquer Gutiérrez.
On Careyitos beach, the cooperatives involved in the point of sale are Boca de Cuitzmala with 71 partners, and Ribera Punta Pérula with 21 partners.
Regarding the benefits of the works for fishermen, the leader of the El Playón cooperative in Punta Pérula, Ariel Mendoza Rodríguez, indicated that both the work of the boardwalk, as well as the market, are of great benefit to his union.
“The market of the sea is very conditioned. In its location it was included in the tourist boardwalk. In the cooperatives we are very happy with this infrastructure and very grateful. We are going to sell the catch of the day, we are going to promote this concept with this label, in addition to the fact that we have already made progress with the sale of the product,” he explained.
He added that continuity is expected in de-watering estuaries, such as what has already been done on the occasion of the works of the boardwalk in Punta Pérula, where now there are better conditions in the capture of various species of scale and shellfish.
He argued that there are people “who have taken five to six kilograms of bass. He has also increased the population of chocolate clams and mule feet. This shows the advantages of the desolves in the estuaries and lagoons.”
For his part, the cooperative member of the Ribera Punta Pérula organization, Manuel Álvaro Sánchez Curiel, pointed out that the work in Careyitos will be a very positive factor for the commercialization of its products, such as saw, guachinango and octopus, among others.
He added that the market is expected to be fully operational as soon as the hurricane season passes, since while this happens there are fewer tourists and also less fishing.
He commented that the state management has been very successful so that Careyitos is open to tourism, an essential factor for the point of sale to function well.
The works in Punta Pérula and Careyitos are framed in the context that coastal fishing has been a matter of concern on the part of the federal and state fishery authorities.
For this reason, government support programs have been promoted such as the modernization of small vessels, replacement of ecological outboard motors, the construction of infrastructure to facilitate fishing operations, as well as the execution of value-added projects, to name a few.