When Pedro A. Sors Garc??a, President of the Federation Nacional de Pesca Deportiva http://www.pescaenmexico.com/, announced their support of Shark Norma (NOM 029) last year, which allowed Ramon Corral of Conapesca to state publicly that he has the sport fishing sector's support, the organization thrust itself into the center of a MAJOR controversy. Minerva Smith, owner of Minerva's Baja Tackle in Cabo San Lucas and spokesperson for organizations opposed to NOM 029 stated, "Pedro Sors and Jesus "Chuy" Valdez, Vice President of the Federation, recently spoke to the Secretary of Tourism and the press, and claimed that they spoke on behalf of sport fishing in Mexico. But they do not speak for the thousands of sport fishing enthusiasts who support catch and release. Their membership seems to be limited to fresh water fishermen." During a recent interview "Chuy" Valdez, owner of Hotel Buenavista Beach and Resort located in East Cape, countered, "Our organization includes eighteen State Associations of Sport Fishing with approximately 11,327 individual members nationwide. Our State Associations with coastline are Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Sinaloa, Veracruz and Yucat??n, and our State Associations with inshore waters are Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Nuevo Le??n and Puebla."

He added, "It is also a member of the Conf??d??ration Internationale de la P??che Sportive (CIPS), maximum representative world wide of sport fishing, the Federation Internationale de la P??che Sportive ??? Mer (FIPS-M), the Federation Internationale de la P??che Sportive???Eau Duce (FIPS-ed), and the Federation Internationale de la P??che Sportive ??? Mouche (FIPS-Mouche). It is recognized by the Mexican Government's Comisi??n Nacional de Cultura F??sica y Deporte (CONADE), the highest authority on sports in our country. The National Federation of Sport Fishing of M??xico, represents the sport of fishing in ALL of its disciplines nationwide, not only in sea fishing of the Los Cabos area.""Some of our accomplishments include the decentralization of the Sport-Recreational Fishing Licenses which were previously handled only by the government. They are now distributed by State Fishing Associations, thus reflecting in 2007 an increase of 140% in the sales of licenses with respect to 2006, and in collaboration with other organizations, we have contributed to the discontinuance of the Boat Permits for Sport Fishing Boats." he continued.

"We have a legitimate interest in protecting not only billfish, but also the rest of the species reserved for sport fishing. We see the NOM 029 as a tool to stop the illegality with which billfish are caught. However, the Federation feels that there were important considerations left out when the law was written. The most important omission is an index (or percentage) of "by-catch". Thus, the National Federation of Sport Fishing worked very hard so that the Governmental Agencies such as SAGARPA and CONAPESCA include this index in the law. Finally, after several letters were sent out to the authorities, an index of "by-catch" [10% for Sail Fish, 8% for Marlin (all sub-species), and 5% for Dorado] was accepted and included in the Nom. The Federation is still fighting to prevent the sale of the "by-catch", requiring that it be donated to welfare institutions instead. Without the law, billfish can be commercialized as by- catch. Along with the catch of the sport fishing fleets, it is the only means of supply to the Mexican market." The following is a Comparison Table provided by the Federation: WITHOUT NOM WITH NOM Anyone can catch shark without restrictions at any distance from shore. limits the small boat shark fishermen to fish 10 miles or more shark Shark fishermen have no restrictions on the equipment they may use the use of gill nets is prohibited and the type of long lines have to be setup to reduce the by catch to a minimum. The fishermen can use live bait and hooks that encourage billfish by-catch, as well as monofilament leaders It is established that only dead bait can be used, and Japanese type hooks with wire leaders The presence of on-board observers is not enforced The presence of on-board observers is enforced There is no by-catch index for species reserved for sportfishing There is a by-catch index for species reserved for sportfishing.

"Before NOM 029 the licenses issued for shark fishing allowed the incidental catch of billfish to be commercialized in Mexico. NOM 029, with its technical attachment on incidentally caught fish, will reduce drastically (over 90 % of billfish). This would be an achievement without precedent, and would result in a notable increase in conservationism," Pedro A. Sors Garc??a added. The Federation represents sportfishing throughout Mexico, not only the Sea of Cortez. It is NOT just a fresh water organization, and they believe that Shark Norma is merely a first step. As Pedro A. Sors Garc??a summarized in a recent letter, "The Federation has never discredited any of the institutions that oppose the NOM 029 today, for we recognize their legitimate interest to protect the billfish species. We simply understand that these organizations have a different point of view from ours on how to help improve our fisheries' management. We wish for these organizations to understand that our efforts are directed in the same direction, and that they would respect us in our struggle to reach the same goal." Both sides should recognize the importance of the preservation of the resource?Ķhow that is accomplished should not overshadow the goal!