“That’s why he hardly goes out anymore. He has to go far away to the sea,” says Otsoa and Ramon’s grandmother, Florencia Hernández, 81, known locally as Pola. Surrounded by memories — black-and-white photographs, lead hooks and fishing lines in her hands — she sits in a wheelchair and has been the longest witness to the changes the land has undergone. She learned to fish at a young age.
“My father taught me. He was a fisherman, like my grandfather. He had a small wooden boat and he would take me when I was a child,” Hernández says, showing us a photo album. “Then I would fish with my brother Salvador. I was at the engine. We would go out at night. After I got married, I accompanied my husband. I would get up early in the morning and wash the laundry and leave it for him when he came home from work. I would immediately fill baskets with fish to sell in the afternoon,” she says.
An abandoned boat in the fishing village of Las Barrancas, Mexico.Photo: Seyra Montes
Hernández and her husband raised their children on the money they earned at sea. “The sea gave me everything and now it’s taking everything away,” she says huskily. In Las Barrancas, they live in daily fear of a hurricane like Roxane, which struck in 1995. “I was only eight years old but I remember it well. It was very powerful. A lot of houses were destroyed,” Ramón says.
Climate change and poorly planned projects
Between storm surges, sea levels continue to rise gradually. In the Gulf of Mexico, the rise is about three times faster than the global average, according to a 2023 study published in the journal Nature. “This could be due to the loss of important habitats, such as seagrasses and coral reefs, which are natural barriers that protect the coast,” says Patricia Moreno Casasola, a biologist at the Institute of Ecology.
“We’ve already lost 100 metres of beach here,” Otsoa said. “Not only has it had an impact on the environment and on the fishing industry we rely on, but it’s also had a huge social impact. The beach was a way to communicate with the neighbouring community,” the fisherwoman explained. The number of tourists her town once attracted has also decreased.
“My mother had a little food stall by the beach that was bustling at Easter. She sold snacks and we lived off that for most of the year,” Ramon says. Horse races were also held on the beach.
