By Whitney Eulich / Correspondent
NAGUABO, PUERTO RICOR
aimundo Espinoza Chirinos
leans over the side of a fishing
boat and points at a dark blur
rising up slowly beneath the
choppy water. “Here he comes. He’s got
something,” Mr. Espinoza says, as fisher-
man Julio Ortiz breaks the surface of the
water. Mr. Ortiz, wearing a short-sleeved
wet suit and small circular mask, treads
water as he heaves up a contraption made
of red plastic milk crates fastened together
with rope.
It’s a fish trap – an illegal one given
that it’s made of plastic – that was lost
when hurricane Maria tore across Puerto
Rico last year. The estimated hundreds of
traps that were swept out to sea in Sep-
tember are not only capturing and killing
lobster and fish but also potentially seep-
ing chemicals into water and the seafood
people eat.
“There are no markings on the surface
[for these lost traps], which means only
someone under the water every day is like-
ly to find them,” says Espinoza, founder
of Conservación ConCiencia, a nonprofit
supported by The Ocean Foundation that
works on sustainable fisheries and climate
resilience here.
When hurricane Maria crashed into
Puerto Rico the morning of Sept. 20, 2017,
the entire population suffered. Six months
later, tens of thousands of families are still
without electricity, and evidence of the
homes and livelihoods swept away by the
rain and ferocious winds litters commu-
nities – and the ocean floor.
Espinoza launched Conservación
ConCiencia in 2016, first leading a trip to
Cuba for Puerto Rican fishermen to focus
on conservation and fishing practices, and
later starting Puerto Rico’s first shark re-
search and conservation program. But in
the aftermath of the storm, he realized he
needed to change gears.
“Everyone kept asking, ‘How’s the
ocean? What’s the damage?’ ” Espinoza
recalls. “And it became clear that no one
knew. Everything was in crisis [on the
island], and no one was looking” at the
fisheries.
He received funding from a Puerto
Rican organization to help replace lost
fishing gear, although only items that are
considered sustainable and safe for lo-
cal fisheries. He also teamed up with the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation tolaunch an emergency relief project. That’s
what he is doing out on the water today
with Ortiz, the fisherman.
The project taps into the skill sets of
fishermen here and offers added benefits
such as economic support and the build-
ing of relationships between fishermen,scientists, and government officials. Its
premise is simple: When fishermen go out
diving for lobster and conch, a common
practice here, and see a trap on the ocean
floor or in a coral reef, they take note of
the GPS location and send it to Espinoza.
He then returns with them, documents the
removal, and pays them for their time.A potential example for future disasters
It’s a unique project and could set
an example for future coastal disasters
around the world.
Ortiz and his two sons, Jonathan and
Orlando Ortiz Pobon, are all working to-
gether on today’s cleanup mission.
They were skeptical when they first
heard that someone was offering money
to help remove lost traps after the storm.
Maybe they’d drive a scientist or official
around, but surely they wouldn’t be paid,
Ortiz recalls thinking.
Soon after Maria, Espinoza started
showing up in fishing ports like Naguabo,
bringing food and water from San Juan,
the island’s capital. “This was some of the
first aid we saw,” says Ortiz, referring to
the weeks following the storm. His home
in nearby Punta Santiago flooded. The top
floor of a neighbor’s home was washed
away. The storage lockers on the dock inPEOPLE
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Hurricane Maria upended Puerto Rico – and its fishing industry.
Raimundo Espinoza Chirinos is helping in an innovative way.
ALFREDO SOSA/STAFFCLEANUP MISSION: Raimundo Espinoza Chirinos, founder of the nonprofit Conservación
ConCiencia, stands on a boat as fishermen dive to retrieve lost traps off the coast of Puerto Rico.VNEXT PAGEPUERTO^ RICO
Atlantic Ocean
NaguaboSan Juan
AREA
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