Naguabo, like those in other fishing towns
across Puerto Rico, were washed out to sea,
taking with them the fishing gear – and work- of many families here.
Espinoza began meeting fishermen and
telling them about his project. Today he’s
working with about 25 individuals in five
communities.
“We need to change the system that’s al-
ways asking favors of fishermen but doesn’t
treat them as a valuable resource,” Espinoza
says as he adjusts an action camera on Jon-
athan’s wrist. Jonathan tips backward into
the water to look for traps with his father.
The camera is a small but key step in
the project. It documents the ocean floor,
creating a record of sea-grass growth, cor-
al reefs, and other aspects of the fisheries’
health post-Maria. It also records the pro-
cess the fishermen use to remove the traps
and can be used as a teaching tool for other
fishermen joining the project.
Espinoza reports that he and his collab-
orators removed 155 lost traps from the
ocean floor between Jan. 29 and March- The fishermen are paid $100 per trap,
which comes out to roughly $500 per trip.
Today, Ortiz and his sons recovered 10 traps
from a small underwater cave about 55 feet
beneath the water’s surface.
It’s a vital economic boost at a moment
when gear is damaged and the ecosystem is
in flux. Ortiz says he earned between $150
and $180 per day fishing before Maria, and
that since the storm, key species like conch
aren’t where they used to be.
But it’s more than money that motivates
the men to participate. “A clean ocean is
important for the future of our work and for
the health of our fish,” Ortiz says.
“I found 60 lobsters in a [lost] trap,” Jon-
athan adds. “They were all basically dead.
Wasted,” he says.
Earlier that morning, he had surfaced
from the water to ask Espinoza to pass him
a hammer. He dived back down to whack on
a trap wedged in the rocks below.Hailing from a landlocked city
The water is choppy, and Espinoza men-
tions he’s feeling a little queasy. Despite his
dedication to the sea, this wasn’t the envi-
ronment he grew up in. Born and raised in
the landlocked Andean city of Quito, Ec-
uador, he became fascinated with marine
life following a family trip to the Galápagos
Islands when he was in fifth grade.
He went on to earn degrees in environ-
mental studies and sustainable development
and conservation biology in the United
States, eventually moving to Puerto Rico,
where his father had moved for work.
It was during a semester
researching sea turtles in Baja
California, Mexico, when he
realized the importance of
social connections in con-
servation efforts. Outside of
his fieldwork, he tutored local
children in English with a fo-
cus on vocabulary about the
environment. After he talked
about protecting endangered
sea turtles one day, one of his
students told him excitedly
that his uncle had given him
one for his birthday. Espi-
noza thought the child was
confused: Sea turtles are pro-
tected. He probably meant a
snapping turtle.
But sure enough, several
weeks later the student came in with his sea
turtle – and his extended family.
“Just the connections we made talking
about sea turtles and their importance in a
basic English class led to its release,” Es-
pinoza says.
“It made me realize the strong ties be-
tween our ecosystem and community in-
volvement,” he says. “It can’t just be scien-
tists talking about conservation; locals need
to be invested, too.”
His project working with fishermen after
Maria is true to that philosophy. And it’s
gone beyond fishing communities helping
him efficiently clean polluting debris from
the ocean. They’ve also opened a windowinto the realities of fishing in Puerto Rico,
realities that even government agencies
tasked with overseeing the practice weren’t
aware of.
Espinoza estimates that some 95 percent
of the traps they’ve uncovered are illegal.
“We knew people used illegal traps, but
we didn’t know the extent of it, and it’s
quite big,” says Ricardo López, director of
commercial fisheries at Puerto Rico’s De-
partment of Natural and Environmental
Resources. “I think this project ... will not
only help clean the waters but better inte-
grate fishermen” into formal environmental
protection efforts, he says. It could inform
future oversight efforts as well.
After about an hour of diving, the back
half of the boat is packed with rectangular
plastic traps in red, yellow, black, and white.
“We need to work directly with the fisher-
men to transition into legal gear,” Espinoza
says. “They have a vast knowledge of the
water here. Together, I’m confident we’ll
see change.”r For more information, visit
conservacionconciencia.org. And for a
Monitor video about the cleanup of fish
traps, go to http://bit.ly/MariaCSM.How to take action
UniversalGiving (www.universalgiving
.org) helps people give to and volunteer
for top-performing charitable organiza-
tions around the world. All the projects
are vetted by UniversalGiving; 100
percent of each donation goes directly
to the listed cause. Below are links to
three groups whose efforts dovetail with
the issues discussed in the accompany-
ing story:
r Miracles in Action (http://bit.ly/
MirAction) provides Guatemalans living
in extreme poverty with opportunities
to help themselves through sustainable
development projects. Take action:
Make a donation so a family can learn
how to fish or grow food (http://bit.ly/
GrowFoodM).
r Osa Conservation (http://bit.ly/
OsaCons) applies scientific and other
expertise to protecting the biodiversity
of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. Take
action: Finance the planting of trees to
help restore a rainforest (http://bit.ly/
TreesRF).r UniversalGiving (http://bit.ly/
UniGiv) responds to crises by identify-
ing top-performing nonprofits that are
well positioned to lend assistance. Take
action: Contribute to UniversalGiving’s
Crisis Relief Fund (http://bit.ly/CrisisRF).V FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
ALFREDO SOSA/STAFFNEW WORK: Puerto Rican fisherman Julio Ortiz brings an illegal
lobster trap to the surface. Hurricane Maria swept many traps out
to sea last year.