Great white cage diving hot spot Isla Guadalupe has been permanently closed to tourism by the Mexican Government.
As of midnight, 10 January, ‘all tourism activities, and film and TV productions at Isla Guadalupe’ have been banned, leaving tour operators and liveaboards out of business.
Cage diving had already been suspended, along with sport fishing, between May and December 2022, a closure intended to ‘make it possible to gather information that will guide activities and the adoption of the best sustainability practices that guarantee the conservation of the aforementioned populations’, according to a statement issued by the Mexican Government.
As a result of the information gathering, the new Management Plan for Guadalupe (text in Spanish) issued on 9 January, reads: ‘White shark observation may not be carried out in the Reserve for tourist purposes, to avoid altering their habitat, behavior and feeding sites, and thereby preserve and conserve the species.’
Shark tourism has been a major contributor to the economy of the Mexican state of Baja California, with a host of small businesses trading on its popularity.
The liveaboards that visit the region have also, collectively, provided an effective barrier to poachers and illegal fishing activities, as they are present on an almost permanent basis during the six months that the great whites visit Isla Guadalupe each year.
Local tour operators are raising concerns that, while the closure may have been well-intentioned, the new management plan does not have any provision for the prevention of illegal fishing and the protection of the sharks.
Horizon Charters, one of the founders of the great white cage diving liveaboard business in the area, released a statement on its Facebook page detailing the news:
Mexico has adopted the new management plan for Guadalupe Island, it is now law, and it prohibits all tourism activities and film and TV at the island. To change this status a new management plan must be written and approved and that will take years – if Mexico has any desire to reverse this decision.
As with Cedros Island, closed over 25 years ago, Mexico has not seen the need to reopen it. As it stands there is no mechanism that will magically reopen Guadalupe, no legal challenge, no petition, or pressure campaign. It is closed.”
There are no provisions in the new management plan to protect the 400+ great white sharks we have come to know and love here. As you know for six months each year they congregate at Guadalupe in huge numbers. These animals represent the main breeding animals for most of the Eastern Pacific from Hawaii, to Washington State, the entire coast of California, Baja and the Sea of Cortez.
The loss of these animals to illegal fishing could potentially collapse the entire white shark population in the Eastern Pacific. As such is it imperative that Mexico set aside the man power and funding necessary to protect these animals each and every season moving forward.
Horizon Charters has said it will refund all bookings made for the upcoming season, as there is no information as to when Guadalupe may reopen, if ever.
Local tour operator Be A Shark Diving, and Adventure Travel has set up a web page dedicated to the closure, with more detailed information, adding that it will provide updates on the situation as and when it becomes available.
