Not sure of the relevance of where you live. My family and I have traded with the inhabitants of the Baja California peninsula, starting with lumber deliveries to Loretto and Santa Rosalia in 1906. While I don't live in Mexico, I have personally poked my boat, my truck, and my feet into many, many, many of the bays and villages up and down the peninsula, both in, on, and under the water for decades, and my family for generations.
I also share your opinion of many of the fishermen, as they are absolutely fantastic people. HOWEVER, and it's a big HOWEVER, this is not a tale of poor fishermen trying to sustain themselves by "catching a few fish to feed their families". Those self-same fishing cooperatives vacuum up anything that will sell, sustainability be damned. And, given the paucity of alternatives to earning a living on the Peninsula, feeding the co-ops by local fishermen goes well beyond "just a few" excess lobsters.
If you're interested, look into the illegal harvest of Totoaba. Then tell me how well Mexico has managed it's fisheries.
Regards,
Pete
I know of one restaurant in Ensenada, a city of 500k and known throughout Mexico for its seafood, that might have lobster on the menu. A walk through the large fish market where all restaurants buy from the fish mongers will show zero lobsters. It's been a while since I've been to Guerrero Negro, but given it's location in the center of the peninsula, guessing it remains an agricultural and commercial center. I wouldn't be surprised if Cabo has lobster, but my hunch is they are from Maine or Vietnam.
I think you've confused the various fisheries. There are more or less three tiers in Mexico. Subsistence fishermen in pangas. Larger vessels or groups of vessels. And large corporate fleets - the tuna business, driven by Asian demand, is extremely active with tuna "farmed" in fish pens to await spikes in market price and demand. Lobster are only viable from smaller boats.
I've been traveling to Baja for almost 35 years. I like Mexico. I am writing this from Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan Penninsula where just yesterday, I ventured into a large town in the jungle known for smoked meats and handmade furniture. I like to explore and see how people live and much of that is what they eat. While not my personal favorite, a popular bar snack in Yucatan is fried grasshoppers.
In my opinion, there remains urban legend about driving to some point and flashing your lights to an anchored fishing boat who will bring you enormous shrimp for pennies a pound. While I have horse traded for shrimp and fish in a similar manner, the price was close to market, no great bargain. I think these stories get told and retold but few have the guts to say "I tried, but never found the cheap shrimp." An adult version of a "snipe hunt" for those who were boy scouts and needled the new kid.
The best way I can describe Mexico is its two generations behind the US. If you long for the days before Big Box Stores took hold, you'll love Mexico. But the changes are coming. Large grocery stores began to emerge 30+ years ago and are now ubiquitous. Home Depot is expanding and will someday displace the tienda del tornillos (screw store).
But what Mexico is not is lawless or backwater. Over the last 20 years, they have developed a surprisingly strong sense of environmentalism and sustainability, albeit subject to graft and corruption.
Jungpeter, this is a very long and winding way to say that I just cannot 'square' your characterization of Mexico. Not saying there isn't some basis for it, but in the main, it's just not anywhere close to what my experience has been. Since 2014 when I bought property in Mexico, I'd guess close to half my time has been somewhere in Mexico.
In general (not specifically to Jungpeter), I find there Americans are broadly divided into two groups of opinion on Mexico. Those who have visited outside of the all-inclusive resorts and like Mexico a great deal due to its favorable economic exchange, great food, varied culture, and hospitable people. The second group fear traveling to Mexico for a variety of reasons though they might make an exception and visit an all-inclusive resort. Despite having never really visited Mexico, this latter group includes a very vocal subgroup who speak loudly about their fears of crime, drugs, food poisoning, police shakedown, being ripped off, etc. Fortunately, these ill-informed people are content to complain from afar and do not visit. But their hyperbole is legendary. It's too bad - Mexico has its problems, but there is so much going for it. It's an incredibly interesting country on many different levels. It is a deeply proud country that cares about their people and their resources. Politics and corruption is a constant battle, but they still manage to get a lot right.
Peter
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