The second module of the Education Program for Recreational Fishers in Puerto Rico will be offered on Thursday, October 28, 2021, at 6 p.m. On this occasion, the topic will be: Regulated Marine Species. The workshop will be online! Send an email to helena.antoun@noaa.gov or wilson.santiago.cfmc@gmail.com for more details and access information.
Easily distinguished by its body shape, and the brilliant coloration. The upper body is a dark olive blue to green and fades to white underneath. Two narrow, light blue to bluish white stripes run longitudinally along the sides, with a broader olive to yellow stripe between them. The species is pelagic, sometimes close to land over rock and coral reef systems, as well as far offshore. Do you know other names for this fish? Write the name on the CFMC social media pages or send a message to cristina.olan.cfmc@gmail.com.
Photo: Kevin Bryant, cast&spear com
Rafael Montalvo Valle is a young fisher from Puerto Real, Cabo Rojo. Fishing is in his blood and also as a legacy of such important fishing community as Puerto Real, in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. At present, he is 21 years old. He fishes almost daily and he would not change that for anything in the world.
He is one of the youngest fishers in Puerto Real. When he was 17 years old, he obtained his commercial fishing license and took the boating course. Also, he has the permit to fish for crabs He has attended several workshops, including those from the Marine Resource Education Program (MREP).
His mom, the fisher Tina Valle (see March 2021 bulletin), and his dad, Milton Montalvo always have encouraged him to have all his documents updated. Likewise, Vanessa Ramírez, CFMC PR commercial fishers representative, always keep him informed and assist him in administrative processes related to fishing
"I remember myself throwing my backpack and going fishing right after school," Rafael said He is the only one, out of four siblings, that fishes commercially.
When he was a kid his parents used to take him to swim and fish. “I bought him a mask and thought him how to hold the breath. [...] He was 6 years old when he caught his first snapper, " his mom told us.
Rafael also learn how to fish with his friends Omar, Adriel ("Pepin"), and Gonzalo, who are his fishing partners nowadays. He mostly does spearfishing, uses a lobster snare or catches queen conch by hand, but also knows how to fish with lines or nets. Like a fish in the water, he descends between 30 to 45 feet doing breath-hold diving. he does not use air tanks yet.
“I fish for hogfish, mutton snapper, queen triggerfish, queen conch, lobster, porcupinefish, lane snapper… a little of everything and what I want to eat," he mentioned . He also catches lionfish. He loves eating it with rice and beans.
Before the sunrise, he goes out to fish with a group of fisherfolks. When they return, they sell their catch to the famous Soltero's fish market and then, the fish is distributed among restaurants and individual costumers. When they don't go out fishing, they do landscaping.
Besides being a hard-working person, Rafael is very conscious and is always aware about seasonal closures; so much that one of the first things that he mentioned during our conversation was "...right now the queen conch has a seasonal closure," referring to the closure in Puerto Rico local waters that begins in August 1 and ends in October 31.
As a young fisher, he likes to see other young persons getting involved with fishing, men and women, as well. His words to them, to his peers, are:
“Stay calm, don't be afraid, and attend the workshops because they are good and you learn a lot of things."
Fishing Goliath and
grouper is also prohibited all year round in Puerto Rico territorial waters (0-9 nautical miles) and USVI territorial waters (0-3 nautical miles). Blue, midnight, and rainbow parrotfishes do not have a closure neither in PR nor USVI territorial waters. Queen conch has a seasonal closure in USVI territorial waters from June 1 to October 31. In PR territorial waters, it has a closure from August 1 to October 31. Visit https://caribbeanfmc.com for more information about closures.
