Business & Tech

SoCal Boat Kicked out of Mexico, Despite Papers

A Southern California sport fishing boat was boarded and forced to leave Mexican waters last weekend, despite having the proper paperwork.

The 3/4-day boat Malahini out of H&M Landing in San Diego was fishing at the Coronado Islands in Mexican waters Saturday when a rigid hull craft was launched from a Mexican Navy ship and sent speeding toward the fishing vessel and her passengers.

Captain Mike Schmidt was sure they were coming to check for the newly required visas that a new Mexican law had obligated all fishermen to now have in their possession. Schmidt had purchased $1,500 worth of the visas for his passengers so he thought he had little to worry about.

The heavily armed soldiers arrived and boarded the fishing boat at 12:30 p.m. They started going through a check list of items that all checked out until they came to one item in particular: boat permits. The soldiers asked Schmidt to produce his Mexican boat permit or he would have to leave Mexican waters.

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Schmidt tried to explain with the help of a passenger who spoke fluent Spanish that the requirement for Mexican boat permits was done away with in 2008. The soldiers would have none of it and insisted that Schmidt either produce it or leave.

Don Ashley is on the board of directors for the Sportfishing Association of California. He confirmed that Mexican boat permits became obsolete several years ago.

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"No one has been required to have a permit since 2008," Ashley said.

The commander of the larger Mexican Navy vessel spoke English and told Schmidt via VHF radio that without the required boat permit, they would have to leave.

He further instructed Schmidt to inform his passengers that it was his fault that their fishing trip was being cut short.

"He told me to tell our passengers that since I had not complied with Mexican law, they would have to suffer the consequences," Scmidt said.

So the captain and his passengers pulled anchor and pointed the Malahini's bow toward Point Loma. Schmidt issued rain checks redeemable for a free trip in the future to every angler on board.

"We did everything right," Schmidt said. "We had Mexican permits for fishing as well as the new visas for everyone on board. The funny thing is that they never asked for our visas."

In an economy that has been especially hard on the San Diego Fleet, Schmidt lost the fuel burned, crew wages, and $1,500 in visa purchases.

"Now I can't even run a trip until this all gets ironed out" he said.

The Mexican Navy was contacted by PFO and said the incident is under review.


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