Fishing communities along Mexico’s Gulf Coast are facing an environmental crisis as oil continues washing up on their shores, threatening the livelihoods of residents who depend on the sea for their income.
In the coastal village of Jicacal, located in Veracruz state, local residents have taken matters into their own hands, working together to clear hardened petroleum from their beaches as the thick substance continues moving along the shoreline. Officials have yet to inform the community about what caused the contamination.
The region serves as a major hub for Mexico’s petroleum industry, with extensive drilling operations both offshore and on land. State-owned oil giant Pemex has stated that none of its installations were responsible for this week’s environmental incident.
Local fisher Aurora Apolonia Martinez explained how she discovered the contamination: “As usual, we went out fishing and cast our nets, and we realized that the net was full of oil.” The crude oil has made fishing equipment completely unusable.
Reuters reached out to Pemex for additional information regarding monitoring activities the company promised to conduct in the affected area, but received no immediate response.
Environmental advocacy group Cemda reported this week that more than twelve contaminated locations have been documented along the Gulf coastline in Veracruz and the adjacent state of Tabasco since March 1st.
While Pemex has rejected any blame for the current incident, the corporation has been linked to multiple similar environmental disasters in recent years. Just last October, crews extracted 2.7 million liters of spilled oil from the Pantepec River in Veracruz following a pipeline rupture.
The contamination has struck two communities that rely heavily on fishing and coastal tourism – Jicacal and the nearby village of Las Barrillas. Local tourism operators report that visitors are avoiding the area due to the environmental damage.
Tourism business owner Nicolás Vargas from Las Barrillas emphasized the urgency of the cleanup effort: “What we are interested in is cleaning up the entire beach,” noting that without proper remediation, tourists will not visit the area.
