All along the beaches you find pangas, the most common kind of fishing boat around here. In the evening when the tide went out we were surprised to see how the pangas were pulled closer to the quay with the help of a truck. The difference between high and low tide is certainly noticeable here.

To me, having seen the big rusty trawlers up in the Barents Sea, the pangas look like friendly little boaties, who couldn't do much harm. And if there were only a few it wouldn't be a problem, but there are no less than 23 400 pangas fishing for shrimp in the Gulf of California. In San Felipe alone there are 220 active pangas, and about 50 more unregistered ones we've been told.

These pangas often fish in the area where the few remaining vaquitas live, sadly a species more often photographed dead in nets than alive in its natural environment. It is estimated that there are less than 500 vaquitas left. There are also shrimp trawlers around here, but to them the vaquita habitat is closed.

Our photographer Alex was invited onboard a panga the other day. He estimated that 2/3 of what was caught in the nets that day was bycatch, thrown back into the sea dead or dying. And sadly, the group of sea lions that were following the boats during the day's fishing, as well as the elusive vaquita, are sometimes amongst that bycatch - caught and drowned in fishing nets.

The shrimp fishermen use drift gillnets, between 1 and 2.5 kilometres long. Monofilament gillnets are invisible under water, and a large number of dolphins, whales, turtles, birds, sea lions and manta rays get caught as well.

Yesterday we invited some of the local fishermen onboard the Esperanza for a chat. We discussed our proposals and the fishermen's needs and problems. We had a good talk about how the establishment of marine reserves could benefit the local fisheries.

We also touched upon fishing in this particular area outside San Felipe, where there are no restrictions on fishing in the vaquita area at the moment. The fishermen claimed that they would have no problem fishing for shrimp elsewhere if the vaquita area was closed. They also talked about changing the mesh size of their gillnets, which would at least prevent larger animals like sea lions and vaquita from getting entangled so easily. We had a good talk and the fishermen left, seeming happy with their new Ocean Defender t-shirts.

What we need in order to solve the problem with over fishing and bycatch is improved techniques and a reduction of the fishing fleet.

Since we entered the Gulf of California we've had nothing but calm seas. Today the wind has picked up and reached force 8, which makes simple things like walking and eating a bit more interesting. I've spotted a couple of pale faces onboard. I am still doing ok, but you never know - there might be a rerun of my dinner.