Four imposing volcanoes watched over us as we ate dinner on a covered dock which doubles as a dining area in the town of La Pirraya on an island in Jiquilisco Bay, El Salvador’s largest wetland. Our tour group sat admiring the sunset and the returning fishing boats with the day’s catch. Bolts of lighting streaked across the sky after dinner providing a dramatic counterpoint to the soft waves slapping against the wooden posts of the dock.
Jiquilisco Bay is idyllic in many ways. This bay, which includes mangroves, seagrass beds, and several islands is not only a place of great natural beauty; it’s a working landscape, providing sustenance and income for thousands of local residents. Industries that reap from the bay and its forests include fishing, transportation, firewood collection, and tourism. Managing the natural resources and ensuring that there is enough for everyone is a complicated job- too big for any single government agency or community organization.
During a recent week-long tour I led for SEE Turtles to explore El Salvador’s culture and nature, our group saw first hand how community development and wildlife groups are helping manage Jiquilisco Bay, conserving its wild animals, and reducing the negative environmental impact that fishing can have. We learned about threats to the bay’s ecosystem and visited local projects to ensure that the riches of the bay can sustain its human and wild inhabitants.
One of the primary areas of focus for Asociacion Mangle and EcoViva is promoting pesca limpia (clean fishing in English) which helps to reduce the number of animals that are accidentally caught. This program helps set up artificial reefs for fishermen that are managed to ensure a more sustainable supply of fish. Many former blast fishermen now participate in this program, which has helped to reduce the impact of explosives on certain areas of the bay.
Fishing is just one of the threats to sea turtles in this area. ICAPO, EcoViva, and Asociacion Mangle also work to protect sea turtle nests by purchasing the eggs from local residents who formerly sold the eggs for consumption. Since consuming eggs (and other turtle products) was banned in 2009, a network of hatcheries across the country has grown to receive the eggs, where they are protected until hatching until being released to the ocean. More than 1 million hatchlings have been released to the ocean to date in the country since the ban and our Billion Baby Turtles program has helped to save more than 30,000 hatchlings the past two years.
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