About El Manglito and NOS

This is the story of the Manglito fishing community in La Paz, Mexico, which has begun to restore its fishery for Callo de Hacha penshell clams and Catarina scallops in the Ensenada de la Paz bay. They have changed the way they fish by changing the way they think and the way they interact with one another. They also know they are at the onset of a long journey.

The story of El Manglito involves the members of a local NGO (non-governmental organization), NOS (Noroeste Sustentable), many of whom are marine biologists who have become community organizers. The story of El Manglito and NOS staff leaning to work together involves fishers becoming “restorators” who create a new fishing cooperative, OPRE, which now faces the opportunities and challenges of a commercially viable fishery. It is a story of change in a long collapsed fishery set within a community at risk of losing its way of life – a story grounded in learning how to “hold” rather than quickly resolve conflict, cultivate trust and a shared vision, and blend marine science with collective learning as part of daily life.