Is Fishing to be Prohibited? A letter to Colombia’s Supreme Constitutional Court

Is Fishing to be Prohibited?

A letter to Colombia’s Supreme Constitutional Court

The suggested prohibition of sportfishing in Colombia could mean the condemnation of the existing fishing resource and put the ecological balance of the Colombian waters and their surroundings at risk.

By: ARMANDO GIRALDO Photos by: ARMANDO GIRALDO, MATT HARRIS and ISTOCK

Colombia has traditionally been the country of “No”, of “no - just because”, and of prohibition without looking at causes and effects. Recently, sportfishing became the victim as the Constitutional Court declared it unconstitutional through the Judgement C-148 of 2022, File D – 14417.

That is to say; according to its definition, a “vitiated and defective activity that breaks the norm and therefore the spirit of the constitution”. Isn’t this contrary to the spirit of what sportfishing really is? Isn’t this a definition that unfairly accuses and excludes us of the rights proclaimed under it?

There is a lack of knowledge of what sportfishing in Colombia really is, and it distances those of us who likeand practice it away from the daily routines in the cities. It’s a way of getting closer to nature, “living it”, and experiencing it as closely and consciously as we can. As sportsfishermen, we observe the environment and the water.

We learn about behavior, biology, and the food sources in order to capture a fish, admire it, and – for the most part - release it so that it may continue to live, reproduce, and maintain its species. Sportfishing is therapeutic. It is even used in rehabilitation programs with children, adults, patients with cancer and other diseases, female empowerment, etc. It helps raise self-esteem, concentration, socialization, facilitates meditation, lowers depressive states, boosts creativity, increases physical activity, among many other things that involve mental health: An arena that is very affected in these modern, post-pandemic times.

In sportfishing, the number of fish caught per person isn’t high, yet the court says it’s billions. Furthermore, the court doesn’t acknowledge that the number of killed fish is low, since the majority of the fish are released. It is definitely very far from the industrial fishing numbers, which are measured in tons. Industrial fishing in Colombia, in my opinion, is destructively extractive, sacrificing everything including incidental species (that have no interest or commercial value).

According to the WWF, it is estimated that 38.5 million tons are discarded per year, including species of fish, birds, turtles and dolphins among many others.

According to reliable data accumulated by the FAO in 2018, there was an increase in the capture-quantities of species of commercial interest, amounting to 96.4 million tons, of which 12 million tons related to inland fishing and 84.4 million tons to marine fishing worldwide. In Colombia, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2013, 43.240 tons were extracted between marine and continental fishing with numbers increasing year after year. It is clear, that industrial fishing exerts a truly forceful and destructive impact on ecosystems and their populations, especially considering the fact that methods such as trawl nets, longlines up to 90 km long, purse seines, nets crossing rivers and even explosives are used. Nonetheless, the lawsuit says that sport fishing is harmful and that only industrial-, artisanal-, religious-, and scientific fishing (whatever that means), which can be termed “extractive”, are “in peace” with the environment. Where is the common sense in that?

Sportfishing, as a recreational activity, is part of an ecotourism industry that is on the rise worldwide. In Colombia, the growth has been constant so far in the 21st century but it has its birth in the 20th century with thousands of Colombians practicing it, despise the terrible, hard times in our national history. Teaching- and inheriting sportfishing to countless generations throughout the national territory full of water systems is only natural and has evolved as a supremely important strategic alternative in fish resource management and conservation.

While commercial fishing affects fish populations and their sustainability in a negative way, sportfishing occurs under the guiding principles of sustainability and inclusion, which allow sportfishing to continue to be carried out and - in turn - extend to more regions, in which many remote communities - normally forgotten - have the possibility to work, and work lawfully either directly or indirectly.

The resource competition between commercial- and sportfishing provides different employment alternatives, but the great value of the “sporting” activity, together with practices such as “catch and release”, is that it helps value and manage the resource - thus, maintaining healthy fish populations and protecting the watersheds, the riverbanks, and the surrounding environments. By developing, maintaining, and expanding regional sportfishing tourism, healthy and stable economies may flourish, food resources may be secured, quality of life may be heightened, and children’s education may be promoted.

Sportfishing understands that it is linked to a landscape and as well as the species of fauna and flora that create- and enrich it. The sport fisherman as a nature lover knows and teaches that everything is chained: That we cannot preserve just one thing without taking the rest into account.

The tourism industry, which revolves around sportfishing, is very special. Not only does its practices depend on environmental protection and mutually beneficial collaboration with remote communities, it also generates additional jobs (both direct and indirect) in all areas and regions, whether rural or urban. There is an increase in investment and infrastructure, many people in the country have dedicated themselves to work as guides, outfitters, tour operators, and fishing advocates. They have opened stores that sell equipment and some have dedicated themselves to the manufacture of fishing gear; from lures, flies, rods, and accessories to the proper and comfortable apparel to practice sportfishing. The hotel sector, restaurants, transportation, supermarkets, airlines, the nautical sector, crafts, among many other businesses, benefit from the arrival of national and international tourists during the different fishing seasons in the country. It is a “clean” economy that is not only good for the country, in terms of income. It is good for biodiversity, and it has substantially helped change Colombia’s image abroad.

The numbers and statistics demonstrate my points clearly. They don’t exist in Colombia yet, but if we look at the figures from the United States, which have perfectly established and organized its data on the outdoor activities industry, they provide a strong case.

According to BEA (The Bureau of Economic Analysis, www.bea.gov) the US industry – in 2019 - generated 2.1% of the nation’s gross domestic product, that is: 459.8 billion dollars, of which sportfishing and nautical activities generated 23.6 billion dollars. A gigantic industry handling such high figures cannot be underestimated, even less so in Colombia, where the industry is on the rise.

Furthermore, there is great scientific and industrial participation in the US sportfishing scene. Manufacturers are aware of the importance of conserving the fishing resource (in order to maintain sales). Every year, different brands, which manufacture fishing equipment and/or accessories, invest millions of dollars in research so they can offer new and cutting-edge sportfishing products and many of them are actively involved with non-governmental organizations (non-profit in many cases). These are interdisciplinary entities in which scientists, sportfishermen, and enthusiasts come together though their shared passion and with a very serious vision and, not least, a mission that has helped ensure growth over the years and, above all, helped develop and implement restoration- and conservation programs. Among these organizations are The IGFA (International Game Fishing Association), BTT (Bonefish and Tarpon Trust), Trout Unlimited, and Captains for Clean water.

Here, the Fishermen’s Network of Colombia was created in 2020 based on the same model that the AUNAP (National Aquaculture and Fisheries Authority) has worked out regarding the regulation of sportfishing in Colombia. The intention being to promote sportfishing with the help of both the public- and the private sectors, and the scientific research needed to take better care of Colombia’s aquatic resources for the benefit of all.

As for today, the vast majority of the people involved in the Colombian fishing industry have united to fund the legal help needed to ask for the nullity of the Court’s judgement.

We know Colombia is a fishing paradise, and we want to keep it that way!

If nothing happens with the nullity, the new laws will be in effect a year from now meaning, there is still fishing to be done in the Orinoco season ending in April 2023 and the Pacific season all the way until July 2023. But that’s it!

In conclusion, we are facing the expropriation of a lawful activity that not only generates pleasure and well-being for those of us who practice it, but also generates jobs and quality of life for many industry insiders as well as healthy, protected environments and fish populations. Seeing as sportfishing provides an undeniable strategy for conservational and social purposes and prosperity, we hope that the Constitutional Court in its power to impart justice and in its supreme wisdom will recognize its error and give us the opportunity to maintain, regulate, and further develop sportfishing for the greater common good.

MATT HARRIS, globetrotting fly fisherman and photographer, who has fished extensively in Colombia. “Not so long ago, Colombia had a reputation as a broken, lawless state, riven by civil war and violence. The country’s very name was synonymous with murderous drug cartels and fifty years of internal conflict that had left well over 200,000 people dead. However, since the remarkable work of President Juan Manuel Santos, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016, the civil war has finally ended, and Colombia has started on the long road to recovery.

It is now safe to visit the country and those willing to leave their preconceptions behind are in for an exhilarating rollercoaster ride. A vibrant Latin culture is now thriving, and the country can offer an incredibly colourful spectrum of environments and experiences. Colombia is one of the world’s only 17 ‘megadiverse’ countries and boasts the second-highest level of biodiversity of any nation-state in the world. Its territory encompasses rainforest, highlands, grasslands, savannah and deserts, and it is the only country in South America with coastlines and islands bordering both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Colombia also offers some truly remarkable fishing, and pioneers like my good friends Beto Mejia at Fish Colombia and Armando Giraldo at Orinoco Flies are helping to expose the rest of the world to some of the exhilarating opportunities the country has to offer.

As Colombia starts to recover from its recent troubles, it is safe to visit, and the country offers some of the most exciting options on the planet for the adventurous fly angler in both fresh and salt water. The payara and sardinata of the Orinoco are both sensational, high-flying species, while Colombia also offers exhilerating topwater fishing for some of the very biggest peacock bass in the world. The saltwater opportunities are also world-class.

Every year, along Colombia’s Northern Pacific coastline, one of the natural world’s most remarkable migrations takes place. Tens of millions of sardines travel from the Bay of Panama down along the coast, and as they make their way south, they seem to attract every predator in the Eastern Pacific. A panoply of wonderful sportfish queue up to compete for the angler’s attention. Superstar sport species like roosterfish, marlin, sailfish, yellowfin tuna, cubera snapper and even increasing numbers of tarpon that have found their way into the Pacific via the Panama Canal all feed on the huge bait schools, and for the fly rod fanatic, they are a truly wild ride.

Colombia offers world-class fly fishing and by encouraging catch and release, pioneers like Beto and Armando are creating a sustainable fishery that will help protect these fisheries in the long term by allowing incoming revenue to sponsor the policing of these wonderful ecosystems.

It would be a tragedy if sportfishing were to be banned in Colombia. Where sportfishing has been banned in the past, fisheries often become neglected and are preyed upon by unscrupulous poachers who can quickly destroy the fishery - as in the case of the celebrated but now tragically ruined mahseer fishery in India’s Cauvery River.

Anglers need to come together to demand that the Colombian government recognise the huge amount of inward investment that sportfishing can bring to their country, at a time when such income would be especially welcome. I am sure that anglers would be happy to contribute to a ring-fenced fund to help sustain and protect the wonderful fisheries of Colombia, and their financial contribution to local economies can only help to pull the country forward as it seeks to rebuild”.