Source: Ensenada
Although news sources last week announced the WTO’s ruling in favor of Mexico on the “dolphin safe†tuna embargo issue, the victory did not cause the expected reactions of gladness in the Mexican tuna port of Ensenada.
For those who once headed the National Chamber of the Fishing Industry in Mexico and one of the most powerful industries in the country, the positive WTO ruling is “just a pyrrhic victoryâ€.
In 1990, the Port of Ensenada used to be home base for the Mexican tuna fleet, with dozens of processing plants, warehouses, around 50 tuna vessels and over 15000 direct and indirect jobs. The start of the dolphin-tuna ban in the USA 20 years ago destroyed what was once the most important tuna port of Mexico and its local economy.
Andres Armenta Gonzalez and Alfonso Rosiñol Lliteras, two fisheries industrialists who participated in the initial dispute held between Mexico and the United States to achieve the lifting of tuna embargo, pointed out that Ensenada, mainly, and Baja California would not ever recuperate with this ruling what they had lost over the last 20 years.
One of the most relevant factors -so many years after the embargo started- has to do with the change in the consumption of Mexican tuna. It increased from less than 40,000 tons in the domestic market in 1990, to over 150,000 in 2010, forcing Mexico to import tuna to meet the national demand.
Mexico thus no longer has any yellowfin tuna to export. Nor can agencies that regulate the species, such as the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) expand the quotas.
Another relevant factor is related to the processing plants that –now 20 years later- no longer exist in Ensenada. Most operations closed or migrated to other parts of the country, closer to the areas of major consumption.
Currently, the home base for the Mexican tuna fleet, processing plants and job opportunities are located in Mazatlan Sinaloa which houses most of the national production, followed by Chiapas; a location which in 1990 could not even be found on the tuna industry map and which currently has a significant presence within the industry thanks to the Herdez plant located there.
All the yellowfin tuna caught in this area, as well as in the Eastern Pacific Ocean are unloaded at the port of Mazatlan.