Help Rebuild the Gulf of Mexico Barrier Reef

Dear Supporters,

This quarter our Marine Base in Pez Maya had the privilege to receive and train 6 people from Punta Allen, fisherman among them but also two monitor women that have been participating with the organization COBI (Community and Biodiversity) to monitor the aggregation of groupers and their fishing refuges.

A fishing refuge is a space that the same local community decided to take care of and not fish anymore in that area to allow the fish and other species to reproduce in a sustainable way. All this is possible with the effort from many fisherman and local people who look after the refuges and make other people and fishing cooperatives environmentally aware.

The 6 divers did their Advance Open Water training in Pez Maya, assisting in two groups. They were always looking forward to learn and participating in the daily activities in Pez Maya. After 5 dives they successfully finished the course. This opens an amazing door for them to get more involved with COBI and other local organizations to monitor the health of the coral reefs as in Punta Allen as in others parts of the Mexico.

Our partner in Marine Conservation COBI received a donation of 3 HOBOS for water temperature monitoring and other hardware and software to download and process the information from the HOBOS, with this donation they increased the number of monitored points in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System where they work with local fishermen. This new equipment and software will provide important information to understand the non-typical behaviours of the fish and coral in these monitored points.

Hector Barbosa, Community Officer, Pez Maya and Alejandro Vazquez, Logistics Manager, GVI Mexico