On a beautiful sunny day with an intense blue colored ocean, the Zapallar’s Cove Fishers Union held the long-awaited official inauguration of the TURF-Reserve, promoted in alliance with the Capital Azul Foundation.
The local community came to the Zapallar Cove to attend the event and learn, on site, about this initiative that will destine 15 hectares to conservation within the Territorial User Rights for Fisheries (TURF or AMERB, as abbreviated in Spanish) that is managed by the artisanal fishers of this iconic seaside town in the Valparaíso region.
As planned, a fleet of boats set sail to proceed with the symbolic demarcation of the TURF-Reserve using two large buoys, whilst children from the municipal diving school entered the water to get to know the protected area, as did swimmers, divers and kayakers, both local and visitors, turning the event into a marine conservation focused party. When back at the dock and in the middle of a reception, the members of the fishers union gave away educational material with the intention to raise awareness of the reserve and its biodiversity.
“It was a very good step for approaching and introducing the reserve to the community. A lot of people came, it was noticeable that they were all interested in the initiative. Many children also came, which is important because we have to teach them all about it, so that they can learn and become aware of the importance of caring for the environment”, explained Carlos Rivera, the youngest member of the Zapallar Artisanal Fishers Union, which he joined precisely with the idea of creating this TURF-Reserve, which is now a reality.
“The activity was better than we ever expected and is so important that the community was with us”, added Sergio Veas, the union’s president, also adding that “now comes the hardest part, which is to maintain the TURF-Reserve over time”.
The fishers hope to work in new instances that allow them to generate awareness in the community, including excursions with children from the municipal diving school to create photographic records, and they also hope to organize an underwater photography championship next year.
However, today the fisher’s concern is focused on having a say in the regulation that the Undersecretariat of Fisheries (SUBPESCA) is working on to regulate sport fishing for coastal fish, since the current regulation allows divers to carry out sport fishing in the TURF as long as they have their respective license.
“Today we depend on the will of the people to respect the TURF-Reserve. We want to let the authorities know that we not only need to publish a regulation for the extraction of rockfish in TURFS, but that these TURF-Reserves should have a different way of being protected. This regulation should incorporate some element to protect them”, Veas remarked.
A milestone for marine conservation
The recent official inauguration of the Zapallar TURF-Reserve marked a new milestone in the socialization of this type of initiatives in which the artisanal fishers themselves lead the recovery of marine-coastal ecosystems. A work that the Capital Azul Foundation will continue to support in order to strengthen the governance and administration of these spaces.
“What comes now is to sit down and responsibly plan what we want for the Zapallar’s TURF-Reserve 10 years from now”, said Benjamín Lagos, Executive Director of Capital Azul.
A first measure to work along this line will be to establish a working committee with different actors, including the Town Council (Municipality) of Zapallar, which has also supported the creation of the TURF-Reserve, which is why, Mayor Gustavo Alessandri Bascuñán himself was present on the day of its official inauguration.
In his opinion, projects such as these allow us to protect “biodiversity by creating a space for the regeneration of species. As a municipality we cannot withdraw from this great project because we feel that this type of transforming ideas need all the support, and that is why we will be here to promote and care for this space that is so valuable for our community”.
RELATED NEWS
