I just made my weekly visit to "El Caracol" a tiny roadside seafood place on the road out of Catemaco to Playa Azul, and jealously eyed the 3 pound Tilapia fish my neighbor was eating and I bitched to the owner about serving me Tilapias the size of children shoes.
Apparently the big fish eater had brought his own fish!!! And where did he get it? He is the head honcho in a Mexican federal breeding facility down the road near Coxcoapan. And he told the sad tale of ,"Ripley´s Believe it or NOT", 3,500 registered fishermen on Laguna Catemaco. At present Laguna Catemaco is totally overfished. If a fisherman (almost no women) catches something shoe size, it is almost a hoarded treasure. The central market abounds with minnow size tilapias, and it is Tlacotalpan and other areas that provide restaurant size fish. Several years of efforts to establish some fishing laws for the laguna, including seasons, sizes, etc., have so far been torpedoed by the local fishing gods.
