MEXICAJ-l flSHERY LEGISUTION 



Those species requiring special permits according to Articles 72 to 101 of the 

 Regulation of January 27, 1933 (Appendix II) are: whales, lobsters, shrimp, pearl oysters, 

 abalones, turtles, a3J.igators, seaweed, totoaba and sponges. L4ore recently the sharks have 

 been classified as requiring special peimits (Appendix VIII). None of the above species, 

 therefore, can be taken by foreign boats operating under the Law of December 26, 1938, 



Fishing permits are either local, e. g., for one federal entity, or general, e.g., for 

 tv.'o or more federal entities (Appendix I, Art. 20, and Appendix II, Arts. 21-2A-). A general 

 permit must be secured to fish under the provisions of the Law of December 26, 1938 (Appendix 

 III, Art. 2-1). In addition, various other permits must be obtained, namely: annual use of 

 foreign boats, annual registry of vessel, annual registry of nets, arinusl identification 

 cards for fishermen, and "Via la pesca" clearamces for each trip (Appendix V). Ihese various 

 permits are designed for the purpose of raising revenue and also to enable the Mexican Qovem- 

 ment to woric with groups of fishermen rather than through individuals. Apparently, and 

 probably justifiably so, the Mexicans believe that an individual is not nearly so responsible 

 as a group of individuals. For this reason they encourage the penniesionnaire system. 



Under the 1938 Law, a permlssionnaire is an individual or an organization standing 

 responsible for a group of boats fishing in Mexican waters, the permlssionnaire is required 

 to post a cash guarantee which may amount to 50,000.00 pesos (Appendix I, Art. 23 j Appendix 

 III, Art. 5-V, and Appendix II, Art. A3)» The permlssionnaire is jointly and severally 

 responsible for the acts of any fisherman operating by means of his permit (Appendix I, Art. 

 27 and Appendix II, Art. 124-). Ihe permits must be reneT.ed annually, and on sill appears the 

 famous "Calvo" clause (Appendix II, Art. 2A, Appendix VI and Appendix II, Art. 29). This 

 latter is very nicely stated in Article 29 of the Regulation of January 27, 1933, which reads; 



"Ylhen the holder of a concession or permit is a foreign ccsnpany, individual or 

 jxiridical entity, the following clause shall be inserted: 'The concessionnaire or 

 licensee expressly declares that, for all purposes of this authorization, he agrees to 

 consider himself as a Mexican and therefore he shall not en jo jj with relation to its 

 validity, interpretation and fulfillment, any greater rights or privileges than those 

 granted by Mexican laws to citizens of the Republic. Consequently he renounces, for 

 the purposes of this authorization, all his rights as a foreigner and binds himself 

 especially not to request the diplomatic intervention of his country in anything 

 relating thereto. He agrees, also, tliat this clause is sin essential condition of his 

 authorization and that non-obsei-vance thereof will cause such authorization to become 

 null and void and make him liable, in additicn, to the loss in favor of the Nation, 

 of any works or investments that he may have made.'" 



The permlssionnaire can probably best be described as a ship's broker or agent with many 

 responsibilities and very few privileges. Probably his most important privilege is that of 

 taking under his wing as many boats as he deems fit. As a matter of fact, the more boats he 

 has, the more money he makes, as a fee is levied on each boat for each trip. He secxires the 

 various licenses required by the Mexican Government and makes the necessary reports for the 

 boat captains and in turn is responsible to the Mexican Government for the actions of the 

 boats operating under his permit, ^ 



Each permlssionnaire pal's annually a maximum of 500,00 pesos for a general fishing permit 

 and 2,000,00 pesos for use of foreign boats. If these permits are taken out in the United 

 States there i^ an additional 25/6 charge as stipulated in Article 6 of the Tariff of November 

 17, 1939 (Appendix V). "Biese fees are on a grad\;ated scale depending on the tonnage of the 

 boat, varying for the general permit from 50.00 pesos to 500.00 pesos for boats from two tons 

 and under to boats of more than 200 tons, and for the use of foreign boats, ftrom 50.00 pesos 

 to 2,000.00 pesos for boats of two tons or less to those exceeding 100 tons net registered 

 capacity (Appendix V, Art. l-I and -II). 



Article 1 of the 1939 Tariff provides: 



"TOien two or more boats are used, the tonnage is taken together £uid payment of the 

 fees fixed in the two preceding subheadings is made on the basis of the total tonnage." 



The tvjo sxibheadings referred to are those for general permits and use of foreign boats. 



