Caring for the sea to be able to make a living from it is not only a phrase made to Horacio Aguilar Villavicencioa 43-year-old fisherman from San JuanicoBaja California Sur. It is a truth that has been guiding his days for more than two decades.

His testimony, shared in the podcast Voices from the Seaproduced by Speaker y NOS Sustainable Northwestreveals the complex reality of those who live from the ocean and work to conserve it.

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"I dedicate myself to fishing and in the afternoons I work in a restaurant," says Horacio, who started in the trade out of family necessity, but over time has developed a deep awareness of the impact of his activity on the marine ecosystem.

San Juanico, Famous for having one of the longest waves in the world, it is also an example of how coastal communities are adapting to practice more responsible fishing.

"Normally I get up at 6:00 in the morning and put on my fishing suit, boots and everything. Right now we are in the lobster season (October to February). We work with octopus, abalone, scales, sole, sea bass, jack mackerel. The flake is worked with nets, the octopus is worked with traps, the lobster with traps as well, and the abalone is dived," he explains.

Horacio shares that in order to ensure that the activity can continue to develop, they should practice a responsible fishing and the way they do it is by respecting the closed periods, reproduction zones and not catching small sizes.

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"In certain fisheries, for example, in the flake fishery, there are closures. There are closures for shark, manta. They do not work for three months. The same for lobster, we only work for 5 months, there is a closure; and the small lobster that comes out, we use the regulatory measures and the lobster that does not meet the measures is thrown back into the water again, as well as the lobster that comes out with its eggs. We take all that kind of care," he says.

The sustainable fishingHowever, it is not without its difficulties. In addition to the effects of the climate change and closed seasons, Horacio mentions another problem: profitability.

"Fishing is not as profitable as it used to be. There is less product and prices are going lower and lower, the expenses are more and more, because gasoline is more expensive, everything is more expensive, except the product," he laments.

Despite the risks, such as the memory of an outing 40 miles out to sea where an engine failure almost cost them their lives, Horacio continues to go out every day with determination. Because, as he himself says, "if you don't take out, you don't win", but also because he knows that taking care of the sea is the only way to continue fishing.