El Manglito residents formed the fishing cooperative OPRE (Organización de Pescadores Rescatando la Ensenada/Fishers’ Organization to Rescue the Ensenada) in 2016. In September of 2017, the Mexican government officially granted OPRE a concession to re-open the Callo de Hacha penshell clam fishery for commercial production. After five years of a self-imposed ban on fishing, the people of El Manglito could finally celebrate having a commercially viable fishery once again.
But with new beginnings come new problems. Just because the people of El Manglito have been able to work together to achieve this first stage of restoration does not guarantee that old problems will not resurface. For example, what catch volume will be harvested? A low catch that could sustain a high rate of regeneration or a large catch that could generate more income and require OPRE to take on less debt? Or something in-between? And will this debate revive old fracture lines within the community? Can OPRE “hold the center” and continue to be a vehicle for bringing the community together, rather than a vehicle for one or another faction?