A Day with Maximo Catari

A Day with Maximo Catari – Fisherman and Boat Builder

It was a very exciting moment when we finally arrived at Maximo’s village, Huatajata. It had taken us about three hours to get there by bus from La Paz. Maximo was there to greet us as well as his wife, Maria and his son, Erik who was going to be our translator. It was almost supper time by the time we arrived and we were famished. Maria prepared a very nice meal and as you problably guessed already, we had fish! Maximo told us it was called pejerrey and that it had been introduced in the lake many years ago. The fish had come from Argentina. It did not have a very strong fish taste but it was good.

We then visited Maximo’s small museum of totora boats. It was very interesting and at the end of the visit he gave each of us a key chain in the shape of a tiny totora boat. Maximo had made them himself! We had to go to bed afterwards as we were going to leave very early the following morning to go on the boat and check out the lake fishing.

We piled into the boat at 5:00 am! Erik and Maximo brought some breakfast food that had been prepared by Maria and that we were going to eat later on. The sunrise was spectacular so we started taking pictures right away. Each team prepared an album and wrote captions afterwards, once we had returned to Canada. They explain pretty well how the fishing was done and what happened once the fishers went back home.

By the time we returned to Huatajata after several hours on the water, we had many questions to ask. We were particularly puzzled by the fact that very few fish had been caught. Maximo explained that although the Aymara people still had kept some good aspects of their culture, particularly in the sharing of land and water resources, they were not fishing in a sustainable way. We were extremely surprised to hear that as we didn’t think that this type of artisanal fishing could deplete fish stocks. A big industrial fleet could do it, but small fishing boats?

Maximo gave us an explanation that helped us understand what was happening. First of all, two species of fish had been introduced in the lake many years ago, the trout and the pejerrey. These fish, especially the trout, were pretty aggressive and slowly displaced some of the native species. The pejerrey was now the fish that was mainly caught and sold commercially. The trout was mainly raised in floating containers but could also be found in the lake. These days, only the farmed trout are big enough to be sold in the city markets such as the ones found in La Paz since trout fishing in the lake wasn’t planned out or controlled very well. Eventually the fish people were catching became smaller and smaller over the years because the fishers did not let the fish reach adult size. The same seemed to happen with the other species. Everything that people catch is kept, either to feed their own families (subsistence fishing), to be used as bait or sold in the local markets.

Now we can better understand why the fish population was declining and why the fishers had to go further and further away from the shore to catch more fish. Maximo also mentioned that the main aquaculture station at the Strait of Tiquina, which divides the lake into two sections, had a lot of management problems. It had been started with the help of a Japanese non-governmental organization about 30 years ago. After they left, the station was not managed in a way that benefited the local economy. Nevertheless, it remained one of the main sources of trout for the La Paz fish market.

Maximo thinks that climate change was perhaps another reason for the fish decline. The “El Niño” phenomenon might also be a part of the problem, especially in the last few years. He also wondered if pollution was part of the problem.

Before we left, Maximo asked us if we could help the fishers by putting together a project with funding coming from Canada. “You are very privileged in Canada and here in Bolivia, we are quite poor. We could benefit from the expertise of specialists who could teach our people about good fishing practices and extend our aquaculture capability. We need things such as good equipment and training workshops. Fish is not the main food eaten in Bolivia, but it could be a great way to feed many poor people if we developed some sustainable fisheries. This would bring a healthy and protein-rich food for our people who, in some cases, suffer from malnutrition.”

As we left and thanked our hosts, we promised we would do what we could to help the lake fishers after we had returned to Canada. It was sad to say goodbye but we said we would keep in touch and hopefully provide some assistance. We had learned so much in such a short time!