Pedro Contreras Cruz and Pedro Ramon Chavez Alfonso

As we sat having lunch at the farthest reaches of a restaurant that juts out into a lagoon in Mandinga, Mr. Cruz pointed his boat toward us and anchored it near our table. My interest in what he was doing in the water and his interest in our presence at the restaurant occasioned the following interview, which we conducted on December 21, 2004. Half way through the interview, Pedro Ramon Chavez Alfonso joined in.

ROWELL: What kind of work do you do here in Mandinga?

CRUZ: I gather oysters from the lagoon.

CANO: How do you do that?

CRUZ: I pull them out with a mechanical device that looks like a large spoon. Right now there are a lot of visitors out there in the lagoon, and they are getting stung by the jellyfish. They are stinging them very hard. Imagine being stung by a jellyfish. It's like being shocked by a live electrical wire. It is very strong, very powerful. As I was saying earlier, in work or labor, some of us do more than one thing. I not only gather oysters, but I also fish and shrimp.

CANO: In general, which of these jobs produces more of an economic benefit in the community?

CRUZ: Gathering oysters and shrimp. This is a job that must be done everyday. The only time we do not work is when the weather is very cold. Once the weather starts to warm up a bit, we go right back to work.

CANO: Is there any other type of employment here?

CRUZ: What do you mean?

CANO: Are there other ways of earning a living here?

CRUZ: As I was telling you, gathering food from the sea is our way of earning a living. Fishing is our only way.

CANO: What about restaurants?

CRUZ: Well, that is very different. There are some people who work in that business, but, as I told you, gathering oysters and shrimp and fish is our main employment. Since we get a lot of tourists from Aguascalientes, Tijuana, and Monterey, I get a lot of clientele because they come specifically to eat oysters.

CANO: Do they buy the oysters from you and take them to sell in the big cities?

CRUZ: No, here we send them to Mexico City via the Mexican Cooperative.

CANO: Is the Mexican Cooperative a union of the fishermen, shrimpers, oystermen, and other associates?

CRUZ: Yes, the fisherman, oystermen, and associates.

CANO: How does the cooperative work?

CRUZ: There are about eighty to one hundred people in the cooperative. Each day we give our catch to the cooperative. Those of us who are not part of the organization sometimes sell our products to them or we sell our catch to whoever is looking to buy fresh seafood.

ROWELL: What do the other men in Mandinga do for work?

CRUZ: Well, some work in the restaurants, and others work in Veracruz and in Mexico City. Those of us who focus on a particular kind of work focus on doing that work very well. As I told you, I dedicate myself to gathering oysters. We have a lot of tourists, and I do what they want me to do: I gather oysters just for them.

ROWELL: I have not seen any hotels or motels around here. Where do the tourists stay? In Veracruz?

CRUZ: Yes, they stay in Veracruz.

CANO: They only come here to eat fresh seafood. Tourists don't stay here.

CRUZ: No, because there are no hotels here. There are no places for them to stay.

ROWELL: So, Mandinga is widely known for fresh seafood for tourists?

CRUZ: Yes, as I told you before there are many people who come from Mexico City, Aguascalientes, Monterey, and many other places, to eat fresh seafood.

ROWELL: Do Americans and Europeans come here?

CRUZ: For the most...