The Struggle of Las Barrancas
Threatened by the Sea
Las Barrancas, a small fishing village in Alvarado, Veracruz, has been battling the encroaching sea for over a decade. With a population of fewer than 300 people, the town has seen a steady decline as young residents leave due to limited job opportunities and the constant threat of losing their homes to the ocean.
“We have been suffering the onslaught of the sea for a long time. It started 14 years ago, but increased 10 years ago,” says Nancy Otsoa as she walks along the shore, an increasingly narrow line of the beach. The erosion was accelerated in 2021 by the onslaught of hurricanes and tropical storms. “That night, the last night a storm hit us so hard, the water came right up to the main street,” she recalls.
Around her are mounds of sandbags and tires, placed there by locals to mitigate the impact of the storm surge. “But it’s no use, as soon as the winds come, another piece of coast is ripped off,” she says. Dozens of lifeless starfish are piled up nearby, extracted from the salt water by the north wind and abandoned on this piece of land. As of 2021, 71.7 kilometers of beaches in Alvarado had coastal erosion.
10 Years Fighting the Sea
“The first town that was affected was Matalauva. Zapote followed, and then we began to lose a lot of beach,” says Otsoa, who heads the Sociedad Cooperativa de Producción Pesquera Barranqueña del Golfo. Founded 35 years ago, the consortium is made up of 41 members: 24 men and 17 women who started a business to sell canned goods from the fish they catch at sea. “We use everything from the bonito and other species to make our products, such as the ceviche pulp for minilla, a typical local dish,” explains Otsoa, who is leading the fight to keep her community from disappearing from the map. It is a battle against the maneuvers of megaprojects, the ravages of climate change, environmental degradation in the region, and the abandonment of a village that is disappearing with the onslaught of the sea.
“Not so long ago it was common to see children playing in the waves while the women fished on the shore,” she recalls. Those days are long over.
Generations of Fishermen
“That’s why my husband hardly ever goes out anymore. You have to go far out to sea,” says Florencia Hernandez, 81, grandmother of Otsoa and Ramón, known locally as Pola. In a wheelchair surrounded by memories—black and white portraits, lead hooks, the fishing line she holds in her hands—she is the longest-lived witness of the transformation that her land has undergone. She learned the fishing trade in her youth.
“My father taught me. Like my grandfather, he was a fisherman. He had a little wooden boat, and he took me when I was a child,” says Hernandez while showing a photo album. “Later, I fished with my brother Salvador. I was the one who grabbed the motor. We would go out at night. When I got married, I accompanied my husband. I would get up very early in the morning, leave the clothes washed and laid out for when we returned from the day’s work. In a short time, we would fill baskets with fish that we would sell in the afternoon,” she says.
Hernandez and her husband raised their children with what they earned from the sea. “The sea that has given me everything and now takes everything away,” she says with a broken voice. In Las Barrancas they live every day with the fear of the arrival of a hurricane like Roxanne, which landed in 1995. ”I was only 8 years old but I remember it very well. That one hit very hard. It took a lot of houses,” says Ramón.
Climate Change and Poorly Planned Projects
Between the storm surges, the sea level continues to gradually rise. In the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, that increase is about three times faster than the global average, according to a 2023 study published in Nature. “This could be due to the loss of important habitats, such as seagrasses and reefs, natural barriers that protect the coast,” says Patricia Moreno-Casasola, a biologist at the Institute of Ecology.
“Here it’s already taken 100 meters of beach,” says Otsoa. “The impact has not only been environmental and on fishing, on which we live, but it has also had a great social impact. The beach was our means of communication with the other neighboring communities,” explains the fisherwoman. The tourism that her town used to attract has also fallen off.
“My mother had a little food stand by the beach that was crowded at Easter, a business that sold snacks. We lived on that income almost all year round,” Ramón says. Even horse races were organized there on the beach.”
### The Struggle Against Rising Sea Levels in Las Barrancas, Veracruz
The Impact of Climate Change and Human Actions
Claudia Ramón in Las Barrancas, Veracruz, facing the ravages of rising sea levels.Photograph: Seila Montes
“We already know that climate change is behind this situation. But also human action, the expansion of the hotel zone, poorly founded works carried out without impact studies,” says Otsoa.
Otsoa, an activist, has spent years researching the effects of climate change and human activities on coastal territories. She enrolled in an online university and consults with experts to find solutions.
Women Leading the Charge
“In this community it is the women who move everything,” says Moreno-Casasola, one of Mexico’s leading experts in sustainable development.
Moreno-Casasola explains that the loss of beaches is due to various factors, including sediment loss from rivers and glacier melting, but primarily due to port expansion and breakwater construction in Veracruz and Alvarado.
Ruins of one of the houses that the sea took away in Las Barrancas.Photograph: Seila Montes
The Erosion Crisis
Projects by the Ministry of the Navy and regional corruption have accelerated coastal erosion. Otsoa describes the increasing isolation and economic struggles of the community as residents lose their homes and boats.
Years ago, Otsoa attempted to migrate to the United States but was deported. She now fears the sea, which grows stronger each year.
Lack of Government Response
“There is no mitigation plan from the authorities,” she says.
Otsoa has sought government support for over a decade, even appealing to the president, but has received no response.
Fishermen fixing a motor in Barrancas, Mexico. Fishing is the main economic activity in the town, increasingly affected by climate change and environmental degradation.Photograph: Seila Montes
Broken Promises and New Realizations
Otsoa once hoped for a breakwater promised by former governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa, who was later imprisoned for corruption. While a similar breakwater helped neighboring communities, Otsoa now believes it is not a long-term solution.
“Installing a barrier over the beach dramatically changes the dynamics of the currents. Putting a spur provides a short-term solution in a specific location, but it moves the problem elsewhere,” says Jacobo Santander.
Santander, a biologist, has studied the phenomenon and supports Otsoa’s new perspective.
Ruins of one of the houses that the sea took away in Las Barrancas, Mexico. The destruction of ecosystems and climate change are affecting coastal territories.Photograph: Seila Montes
A Multifactorial Problem
“The disappearance of beaches in this region stems from a multifactorial problem,” says Santander.
Santander explains that poorly planned mega projects and ecosystem deterioration contribute to sediment erosion. Moreno-Casasola suggests recovering the mangrove system to provide a natural barrier against tidal waves.
Saving a Mangrove to Protect the Beach
Scientists propose focusing on natural areas rather than constructing breakwaters. A key part of their plan is the rehabilitation of the Salao mangrove swamp, home to diverse species.
“We are betting on the rehabilitation of habitats to recover coastal protection. So that nature returns sediment to the coast,” says Ramón.
Ramón is optimistic about the visible impact of their efforts, noting the successful sprouting of mangrove seeds on the beach.### Reviving Las Barrancas: A Community’s Struggle Against Environmental Degradation
Environmental Education and Cleanup Efforts
Claudia Ramón in the Las Barrancas mangrove swamp.Photograph: Seila Montes
For Las Barrancas to regain its former beauty, raising awareness is crucial. “That is why we carry out environmental education campaigns,” says Santander. Despite cleanup efforts, much of the mangrove area remains littered with debris. ”Some of it arrives from the sea, and some is directly discarded, especially plastic. We constantly remind the neighbors to recycle and stop throwing waste. Gradually, we are making progress. Another issue is the burning of garbage. We don’t have a public cleaning service here,” says Otsoa as she walks among the old mangrove roots, sorting through various plastics, fishing nets, pieces of tires, bags, and cans.
Restoring Natural Water Sources
“We would also like to recover the waterfall,” Ramón says, referring to a once-popular bathing spot. “It had a tremendous stream and provided excellent water. But the hill began to collapse, roads were opened, construction work was done, and over the years, the flow deteriorated,” she explains. “If we have learned anything over the years, it is that to be better off, we must take care of our environment,” Otsoa adds.
Creating Fishing Refuges
Ruins of one of the houses that the sea took away in Las Barrancas, Mexico.Photograph: Seila Montes
The village also plans to establish fishing refuges, an idea suggested by biologist Santander. “We started working on the initiative to let fishing rest for a while. We want to organize with the other fishermen along our coastline and designate these refuge zones. Only together can we define them, decide how long fishing should stop, and see how the species repopulate gradually,” Otsoa says. She carries a folder with documentation: files on territory erosion, rising sea levels, letters to authorities requesting support, and photographs and videos showing how Las Barrancas used to be and how it has changed.
Seeking Government Support
“When President López Obrador came to Veracruz, we approached him, part of the community, and gave him the letter. He promised to take action, but he never did. And we don’t know what to do to make officials listen to us. We are afraid that the help will arrive when it’s too late. We don’t want it to happen to us like it did to the people of Tabasco,” says Otsoa, referring to El Bosque, a town in Centla municipality that was completely swallowed by the sea. After years of suffering from tides and surges, all its inhabitants had to be evicted in February of this year.
“That’s what we don’t want to happen to us,” says Pola.
As her granddaughter Otsoa explains, a relocation “would be devastating because it would force us to change our way of life. What we have here is a heritage achieved through hard work. We were born here, and we have always lived here. Belonging to Las Barrancas is part of our identity. That is why we cannot allow ourselves to lose our land. That is why we continue to fight and do the work that the government does not do; we work so that the balance of nature returns. And so that they listen to us before it’s too late. Before only the name of this community remains as a memory, and so that future generations don’t have to say that their town was destroyed by the sea.”
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Is this the apocalypse knocking on their doors?
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