Ship: Seahorse
Name: RPH
Date: 05/04/2023
Ship’s Activity: Monitoring
Table 1. Small Fishing boat counting was done during the night of the 4th of April from 20:00 to 23:59 with radar observations, visual observation, and photography. The hours not represented in this table correspond to hours when no boats were seen in the ZTA or outside.
| Hour | Pangas ZTA | Pangas ZTA Buffer Zone | Pangas Outside ZTA |
| 20:00 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 22:00 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Table 2. Small Fishing Boat counting was done during the 5th of April from 00:00 to 23:59 with radar observations. The hours not represented in this table correspond to hours when no boats were seen in the ZTA or outside.
| Hour | Pangas Inside ZTA | ||||
|
Total |
Net Fishing | Divers | Potential Net Fishing | Crossing | |
| 14:00 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 15:00 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16:00 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17:00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Hour | Pangas ZTA Buffer Zone | |||
|
Total |
Net Fishing | Divers | Potential Net Fishing | |
| 04:00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 09:00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10:00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12:00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 14:00 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 15:00 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 16:00 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 17:00 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 18:00 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 19:00 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Hour | Pangas Outside ZTA | |||
|
Total |
Net Fishing | Divers | Potential Net Fishing | |
| 03:00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 09:00 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 10:00 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 11:00 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 12:00 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 13:00 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 14:00 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 15:00 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
| 16:00 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 31 |
| 17:00 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| 18:00 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| 19:00 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
Total number of different small boat fishing today in the ZTA: 2.
Total number of different small boats fishing today in the ZTA Buffer Zone: 7.
Fishing boats started to arrive at the Vaquita refuge around 9 in the morning, most of them to the northwest area.
At 14:00 we made visual contact with 4 targets on our radar that showed possible fishing boats inside the ZTA in the Southeast corner. We launched the drone to confirm they were fishing boats, and we reported it to the navy. 2 of them left the area when they saw the drone, and 2 more stayed inside with fishing gear in the water. One of the fishing boats was full of sharks of different sizes. Around 14:45 One of the fishing boats finished pulling the net and left for the Vaquita refuge with the other boats. We stayed in the area documenting.
At 16:11 the interceptor arrived at the area of the report. The small fishing boat was finishing pulling the net. They left in the direction of San Felipe not being stopped.
The Navy interceptor stayed around the buffer zone for about 25 minutes and then left the ZTA.
A big amount of small fishing boats remained fishing in the northwest and southeast of the Vaquita refuge.
Figure 1. Small Boat activity in the ZTA today 5th of April.
Figure 2. Radar screenshot at 15:01. Targets 55 and 56 correspond to the small fishing boats with nets in the ZTA.
