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Let's Go2Vallarta - Articles
Islas Marías, a prison that has contributed to conservation
One evokes one of the scenes that better describes the islands; it is the harvest of salt in the salt plains and the famous actor carrying a full sack of salt on his back. To this date there is lingering talk about that famous sack being still stored somewhere in the warehouse. The current situation is really far from that of the movie portrays, though it still is a federal prison, the present inmates have radically changed as well as the status of the islands, which are now considered a Biosphere Reserve due to their biological wealth and good state of conservation To put it into context, the Islas Marías are an archipelago formed by four islands; María Madre, the largest of them; María Magdalena, María Cleofas and San Juanito (the smallest). They are located on the Pacific Ocean, in front of the Nayarit coastline. 386 km from the Port of Manzanillo, Colima, 176 Km from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, 132 km from San Blas, Nayarit and 115 km from Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. In 1905 the Islas Marías were established as the Islas Marías Federal Prison Colony; later, in 1908 it falls under the rule of the Government Ministry, and in 2000 under the function of the Public Security Ministry, in collaboration with the Marine Ministry and the Government Ministry. On the other hand, on November 27, 2000, the archipelago is declared a Natural Protected Area with the character of Biosphere Reserve, integrated by four areas, going from the larger to the smaller surface: Isla María Madre, Isla María Magdalena, Isla María Cleofas and Isla San Juanito, as well as their marine territory, comprising an total area of 641,284.74 Hectares. The decree establishes in its second article that: The Ministry for the Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries (now Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources) in coordination with the Government Ministry (now Public Security Ministry), will be in charge of the administration, development and preservation of the ecosystems and the elements of the Biosphere Reserve Islas Marías, as well as of insuring that the actions undertaken within them adjust to the purposes of the declaration. Furthermore, there is a restriction preventing navigation within 24 kilometers of its adjacent waters.
This islands’ experience enabled us to establish them as an important link in the dispersion of species between the Revillagigedo islands, the coasts of Baja California Sur and the coasts of Nayarit. The status that gave the islands their obscure reputation has likewise contributed to the good degree of conservation of their marine resources. On the other hand, it also allowed us to get acquainted with a new model of social re-adaptation the Public Safety Ministry is working on with its inmates to end once and for all with the old stories that have been weaved around the Islas Marías. Dr. Amílcar Leví Cupul Magaña My Feedback about this Article |
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When anyone hears about Islas Marías, they immediately relate them to the famous prison in the movie “Islas Marías” with Mexican movie icon Pedro Infante, where you could clearly see the rudeness and cruelty of the inmates and the authorities in charge of the islands.
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Personally, when I started my studies of corals in the region of Bahía de Banderas and south of Nayarit, the Islas Marías became a hard-to-reach goal due to the difficulty in obtaining access to the islands as well as the lack of resources to finance my expedition. Nonetheless, by 2002, I almost made it, as the National Commission for Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), hired the Universidad de Guadalajara to carry out the necessary research for the Program of Conservation and Management. This was done by both, the faculty of Biological and Agricultural Sciences (CUCBA), who took care of the land based studies; and us (the CUC) who were in charge of the marine based research. However, this work could only be completed in its first phase, the paperwork, as SEMARNAT (the Ministry for the Environment) could not obtain the clearance permit to the islands. The goals were not reached but on the opposite, my dream of visiting the islands became almost impossible to attain. In spite of that, every time we visited Isla Isabel to monitor the reefs, when we saw the profile of the Islas Marías, we again nurtured the illusion of going there someday and see what may possibly be one of the better preserved sites in the Mexican Pacific.
To my surprise, by the end of 2006, I was told by CONANP about the possibility to re-launch the research for the Program of Conservation and Management; they were inviting me to do the marine diagnostic, I obviously accepted immediately, so, after a certain period of paperwork, finally in March 2007 we were able to reach our goal. Our trip started out of San Blas, Nayarit aboard CONANP’s “panga” (a small open boat) laying over in Isla Isabel and after two more hours we arrived at Puerto Balleto on María Madre island. There we were greeted by the prison’s authorities and our luggage was immediately searched. Once the revision was completed we were taken to the office of the Technical Sub Director, who briefed us on the instructions to be followed while in the colony as well as where we would be lodged, we discussed the work program and the support we would need to develop it. Once set up in the house assigned to us in Nayarit Camp, we were taken for a land tour towards the south end of the island to get to know some of the campgrounds that form the prison colony and obviously to the salt fields and to hear the history of Pedro Infante’s salt sack. When we came back from our tour we were able to witness the inmates’ roll call, done three times a day (at 5am, 12noon and 8pm). The next day we started our work, which according to our plan was meant to be carried out at Isla María Cleofas the most distant island of the colony. After 40 minutes of navigation we arrived on the island and from my first immersion I could tell that it had been well worth the long wait. The beauty of the underwater landscape and the great abundance and variety of fish filled our enthusiasm and eagerness to continue diving. We were able to confirm the importance of the conservation of these islands, while we also attested to poaching as we could see remains of nets, fishing lines on rocks and reefs as well as traces left by fishermen camping on the beaches. In the following days we visited the other three islands, each one treating us to different underwater panoramas but sharing one common feature, a great abundance and variety of fish. There were of course some scary surprises, an icon of the islands; like a tiger shark greeting our arrival at Isla María Magdalena. After five days of work around the islands and feeling like you are living in any town in Nayarit or Jalisco, we headed back to mainland but with the idea of going back soon, which we did in July reaffirming our admiration for this natural wonder.
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