Consorcio Por La Mar R.L.

Overview

Description

The community of Tárcoles in the canton of Garabito, Puntarenas, has a rich culture related to the artisanal or small-scale fishery and life on the coast. Tárcoles is also a site where there is enormous terrestrial and marine biodiversity; you can find many plant species including orchids and valuable trees, as well as wildlife such as scarlet macaws, howler monkeys, crocodiles, iguanas, several species of mammals, aquatic birds, and many commercially valuable fish species.

Five years ago, Consorcio Por La Mar R.L. began offering guided tours of a responsible artisanal fishery to give people a chance to see the biodiversity and the lifestyle, culture, and daily work of the artisanal fishers and others involved with the activity, such as the mollusk gatherers and the lujadores - the people who untangle and organize the fishing lines and gear.

The Por La Mar Consortium offers four different guided tours:

• Responsible Artisanal Fishery: on this tour the artisanal fishers of Tárcoles show how they do their daily tasks. You will head offshore about 0.9 miles (1.5 km) from the coast in a safe skiff. The fishers will demonstrate how they catch fish traditionally with hand-lines and gillnets. The group can enjoy a snack here while listening to the anecdotes of the captain and his staff. Visitors are also given baited lines to try their hand at fishing. They can also save a piece of fish and have it cooked for them in one of the local restaurants for an additional fee (to be negotiated with the restaurant). In the afternoon, you can enjoy one of the marvelous sunsets over the central Pacific region. These visits can be made in the morning or preferably in the afternoon hours, depending on weather conditions.
• Centro de Acopio (warehouse) of CoopeTárcoles R.L.: This visit will teach you about the process from when the fish leave the sea to when they are sold. You take a tour of the beach and the warehouse and learn about the tools and equipment the artisanal fishers use and the cooperative’s actions for environmental management. You can also learn about the cooperative’s innovative measures for managing coastal and marine resources, such as:
  • The fishery database.
  • Their efforts to comply with voluntary standards for responsible artisanal fishing through a code of conduct for sustainability.
  • The recognition of a community marine area for responsible artisanal fishing as a tool for conserving marine diversity and the cultural identity of the community of Tárcoles.
  This tour is usually combined with the one for artisanal fishing by adjusting the schedule.
• Mollusk gathering: Visitors learn the traditional way of gathering edible, marketable mollusks. This tour is guided by the women who usually carry out this activity. During this visit, you will learn about the equipment and methods they use and hear about the lives of those who have done this work for many years. This tour is only offered on specific dates to coincide with the proper phase of the moon and low tide in the morning.
• Responsible artisanal fishing and visit to Limoncito Beach: this tour offers the same activities as the first one described above, but it includes a snack and a visit to Limoncito Beach, where you can connect with nature on the trails, at the waterfall, or while resting on the beach after a day of fishing.

Making a Difference

Percentage of local employees: 100%

Consorcio Por La Mar R.L. was officially formed in 2007 as an auxiliary body born of the merger of two cooperatives: CoopeSoliDar R.L. and CoopeTárcoles R.L. The two cooperatives work in different fields, but they have in common a strong sense of values that are essential for collective work: independence, solidarity, equality, excellence, and transparency.

Coope SoliDar R.L. is a professional services cooperative that works on issues regarding natural and cultural resource conservation, local participation and gender equity, and other matters; it has 12 members. CoopeTárcoles R.L. is an artisanal fisher cooperative that markets fish and shellfish and has 31 members. Consorcio Por La Mar employs one person full-time. Members of both cooperatives collaborate on consortium activities. Moreover, through its guided tours, Por La Mar creates jobs for several sectors of the Tárcoles community: fishers, lujadores, terrestrial and marine guides, the women who prepare meals, and even the families that provide lodging.

The Tárcoles community is concerned about improving its quality of life and conserving and restoring the environmental and cultural richness of the area. For this reason, the two cooperatives have maintained their association over the years and they work together to share knowledge that will help advance local sustainable development. This is how they formed Consorcio Por La Mar R.L., which functions as a small business dedicated to marine community tourism. This kind of tourism has low social and environmental impact and offers jobs to local men and women of different ages and occupations. It workw toward the well-being and food security of the community, promoting a business model that is equitable and generates real benefits for a coastal community.

The consortium’s mission is "to be an innovative and consolidated consortium that shares the vocation of responsible artisanal fishing as a dignified lifestyle that contributes to the biological and cultural conservation of coastal and marine resources as something good for our families.”

Rates

$26 – $50

Rates vary according to the number of visitors and the type of guided tour:

• Rates for groups on a guided tour of the artisanal fishery and the CoopeTárcoles warehouse range from $30 to $60.
• Group rates for a guided mollusk gathering tour and the warehouse run from $10 to $30.
• For individual tours, prices run from $60 to $125.

Getting There

Nearest international airport: San José (SJO)

Travel time to nearest airport: 2 hours

Additional Information

Additional Web sites

• www.eco-index.org/search/results.cfm?projectID=966 (available in English and Spanish). Project profile: Consolidating the Consortio PorLaMar R.L.: Strengthening Cooperatives for the Sustainable Use of Marine Resources. Information available in the Eco-Index.
• www.eco-index.org/search/results.cfm?projectID=1148 (available in English and Spanish). Project profile: Establishing a Community-Managed Model for Marine Conservation to Effectively Conserve Biological and Cultural Diversity. Information available on the Eco-Index.

Files

• Responsilbe Artisanal Fishing Guided Tours. We also fish stories and friends! - Brochure with general information about the area and the tours.
• Visitas Guiadas de Pesca Artesanal Responsable ¡También pescamos historias y amigos! - Brochure with general information about the area and the tours. In Spanish.
• Visitas Guiadas de Pesca Artesanal Responsable - Descriptions of three of the tours offered. In Spanish.
• Lujadoras y lujadores - Why is this task important? What does it mean? A history and brief explanation about how the fishing gear is tended and maintained. In Spanish.

Date This Information Was Provided

June 2011.

Photos courtesy of Consorcio Por La Mar R.L., Costa Rica, for SustainableTrip.org.