Commercial diving and the callo de hacha fishery in Seri territory.

This paper examines commercial diving in Seri territory, from its early stages to contemporary practices. Commercial diving in Seriland is not only a story of marine-resource exploitation; it is also a tale of close interaction between two historically antagonistic sociocultural groups. From the times of the pearl hunters (1720-1733) to the present callo de hacha (scallop) fishery, Seri and Mexican mestizo fishermen have repeatedly conflicted and cooperated in their efforts to harvest marine bivalves. Grasping the nature of such interactions is crucial for understanding how the fishery began, how it has changed over time, and how it is organized today.

The Seri, or Comcaac, are a group of seafaring hunter-gatherers who, before becoming sedentary, were organized in seminomadic bands (Moser 1999; Sheridan 1999). There is evidence that their coastal territory covered an extensive portion of the coastal Sonoran Desert, spanning from north of Puerto Lobos to as far south as Guaymas, and that they had permanent populations on Tiburon and San Esteban Islands (Moser 1999; Bowen 2000). After European arrival, the Seri faced relentless wars of extermination led by the Spaniards and later continued by Mexican ranchers, with often ferocious battles lasting into the early twentieth century (Spicer 1962; Sheridan 1999; Bourillon 2002). Today, the remaining Seri live in the two permanent villages of Punta Chueca and El Desemboque. According to national census data (INEGI 2000), the total Seri population is around 420 people. Because the Seri are one of the smallest ethnic groups in Mexico, in the 1970s the federal government granted them legal property rights to a portion of their historic coastal territory. The goal of this concession was to increase the Seris' chances of survival by reducing the probability of future conflicts with other local fishers of different ethnic origin. Property rights took the form of the Ejido de El Desemboque (1) and its annex of Punta Chueca ("Diario Oficial de la Federacion" 1970), a fishing concession granted to the Seri fishing cooperative ("Diario Oficial de la Federacion" 1975), and communal tenure on Isla Tiburon, Mexico's largest island ("Diario Oficial de la Federacion" 1978).

The callo de hacha fishery is practiced entirely in the Canal del Infiernillo (see figures 1 and 2), which constitutes a small portion of the Seri fishing concession (Bourillon 2002), and where the callos are abundant compared to other areas nearby (Moreno, Torre et al. 2005; Moreno, Weaver, et al. 2005). This generates pressure from non-Seri fishers who seek access to the Canal del Infiernillo to harvest callo. However, because the Seri are able to control access to it, most non-Seri fishers must negotiate with the Seri to fish the channel (Basurto 2005). Non-Seri fish buyers, as I will explain in more detail below, also need to negotiate their way into Seri territory. In their case, they must gain access to the Seri ejido, where the village of Punta Chueca is located, in order to be able to buy callo harvested in the Canal del Infiernillo, currently one of the best fishing grounds for callo in the region (Moreno, Torre, et al. 2005).

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Today, commercial diving for callo de hacha (Atrina sp and Pinna rugosa) is the most important commercial fishery in Seri territory. The callo de hacha is a sessile bivalve mollusk widely distributed in the Gulf of California and south to Panama (Brusca 1980). It lives buried in sandy bottoms and is harvested by divers for its abductor muscle; it commands high prices on the national market.

The data on the callo de hacha fishery were collected between 2000 and 2001, using ethnographic fieldwork techniques. Collecting such data became possible only after I had visited and worked with the fishing community since 1998. Ethnographic techniques included participant-observation and active participation in all of the fishing activities (harvesting through marketing), and informal interviews with Seri and Mexican fishers and fish buyers. Historical accounts are drawn from formal interviews with the oldest Seri and Mexican divers, as well as with other key informants in the Seri community.

BEGINNINGS

The first commercial diving fishery in the Canal del Infiernillo probably began sometime in the 1720s, during a "short-lived pearling boom in the area" (Bowen 2000:74). At that time, pearl beds of Pteria sterna were discovered along the Sonoran coast, extending northward from Cabo Tepopa to just north of Tiburon Island. These pearl oyster beds became known as the San Xavier, or Tepoca, placers (Stratford [1746] 1958:62), and it was estimated that by the end of the decade of the 1720s, more than 1,000 pearlers exploited these grounds. Although these reports are thought to have been greatly exaggerated (Sheridan 1999:122), it is likely that many fishers came to shore looking for fresh water when they found it was available at the Tecomate area (Correa [1750] 1946:555). Either way, this probably fueled the uneasiness with which the Seri were watching this sudden invasion of their territory. Conflicts between fishers and the Seri eventually broke out, resulting, on the one hand, in the deportation of some Seri to nearby missions, and on the other, in the Seri killing of several Spanish pearling crews. As a result of the constant conflicts with the Seri, the Tepoca placers were abandoned by 1733 (Mosk 1941:214). It was not until 240 years later that commercial diving by non-Seri fishers resumed in the Canal del Infiernillo.

FREE DIVING

Commercial exploitation of callo de hacha in the Canal del Infiernillo began around 1973. It was started by non-Seri Mexicans hunting sea turtles and exploiting fin fish in the region. According to Mexican and Seri informants, the callo buyers …