6 minute read
Fisher José Chaar
José Chaar, lovingly nicknamed “Joche” by his grandmother, is a member of the Advisory Panel for the District of Puerto Rico Like many fishers, he comes from a family that enjoys and knows much about fishing. His father, his uncle and his grandfather were recreational fishermen. He was born in Mayagüez and lived in the San José neighborhood, located on the coast. From there, they went to the beach, hunted for crabs in the mangrove forest, and caught snooks in the rivers. His father had a boat, and they belonged to the Western Sports Club in Cabo Rojo. On the boat, they would fish for lane snappers and yellowtail snappers, and on the Sports Club dock, he would chase and catch crabs and tarpons that he would later release. This is where his love for the sea began.
José Chaar fishes a large variety of species, depending on the season. However, he didn’t always make a living from fishing. For many years, he dedicated a large part of his life to livestock, for which he studied in college.
“When I graduated from high school, I studied Animal Science in the Colegio at Mayagüez (University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus). I graduated in 2006; I already had the farm by then. I worked on the farm for nearly 15 years, from 2003 through 2017,” José narrates. He dedicated those years to the production of meat livestock His engagement with the farm did not allow him much time for fishing. He would periodically go out to fish recreationally with his family and participate in some tournaments.
In September 2017, Hurricane María destroyed his farm. This was the turning point where he decided to replace livestock for commercial fishing.
“I sold everything and moved to commercial fishing. My first catch was in November, after María,” Chaar told us. He acknowledged that the experience in livestock helped him become organized, learn to work within a budget, and be prepared to face times with low production or no fish. Furthermore, he has his own ice machine, solar panels and batteries, so he can always keep the fish in optimal conditions.
“I wake up at 3:30 a.m., check the equipment, load the bait, ice, provisions, food, and set out for the ramp. We should be getting there by 5:00 – 5:30 a.m. and we’re out by sunrise. Sometimes we leave even earlier, if we’re going further. We fish during the whole day when the ocean conditions are good. And by the sunset, we’re on our way back. We usually fish until sunset We try to grab those two bites, during the early morning and in the afternoon, and sometimes when there are changes in tides or currents during the day, we can take advantage of these changes that promote “bites” and allow us a better catch,” José describes.
He often goes out to fish with his son or his wife Kritzia. Both have served as skippers and support the operation.
“Normally, when fishing in deep water, we fish for red and queen snapper Sometimes, we get bycatch from dolphinfish, wahoo, tunas, and rainbow runners. And you catch and keep them because thathelps round out the day, making it more productive in terms of money. When we move on to catch dolphinfish and wahoo, we fish during the season of the run on the north coast The dolphinfish also runs in the south during different seasons. When we’re talking about catching wahoo, we fish for them in their season, from October to maybe early February That also varies by location But sometimes we’ll have the dolphinfish and the wahoo we call from “vallao”, from floating objects, from wood debris, from the FADs, the sargassum, these fish move along with these objects and are smaller individuals They grow with this object as they move along and eat from it,” José explains.
Being a fisherman, José has also been able to provide scientific input He has collaborated with CariCOOS and the buoys at Rincón and Arecibo, has taken part in pelagic fish monitoring projects under HMS licensing with the Conservación ConCiencia organization, and has participated in deep-water snapper research projects undertaken by Doctor Reni García Sais, professor at UPR-Mayagüez and member of the CFMC Scientific and Statistical Committee.
A new generation of fishers are on the rise. José has the following words of advice for them:
“Don’t quit, study, sit in front of the computer, look up new technology, study bathymetry charts, find the relationship between the fish and the ocean bottom, don’t give up. It’s not going to happen immediately. I started with 15, 20, 30 pounds and spent a year, a year and a half, catching 30 -50 pounds. And the trips only earned me $60, sometimes $50. It’s rough. While this is happening, if their producanction is for deep-water snappers, look up other alternatives, live-bait fishing, go after pelagic fish, mahi-mahis and wahoo. Take care of your resources; don’t over-exploit them. Obey the closures; be aware that there are people coming up after us. You have to keep all those things in mind. That they might have children, maybe grandchildren or nephews or nieces that might want to fish, even if only in a recreational capacity. And you have to think about this, and the reality is that every day there are changes in the climate that affect the fisheries, but similarly, new openings have emerged, new places, new waters to explore, to go deeper or shallower to catch fish, or to new places people don’t go to and exert pressure on the fishery resource. You know, these things are possible.There will be bad days, good days; there will be excellent days. They have to prepare themselves, set up a budget. All these things have crossed my mind because I’ve lived through them. I’m not the oldest fisherman. There are others older than me that are more experienced in everything I mentioned. Some of them are very prominent, others a bit less so, but they all gain prominence because they have their knowledge. My respect for them, because I’ve learned so much from them, too. You have to grow, like any other job; you can’t sit on a chair and expect everything to come out well, you have to work at it until you get it,” he affirmed.
CFMC would like to thank José Chaar for the interview, the pictures provided, and the kindness shown by himself and his wife Krizia welcoming us into their home.
