Slow but steady
On March 20, 2026, an event was held in the community of Topón, municipality of Pijijiapan in Chiapas, to present the best on-board handling practices (BPMB) certificate to the fishing cooperative Los Agostaderos de Topón. The event was attended by representatives from the municipal government, the State Government’s Ministry of Economy, the La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve (REBIEN-CONANP), the State Committee for Aquaculture Health in Chiapas (CESACH), SmartFish AC, the cooperative, and the processing plant.
Mario Ramón Becerra, a member and advisor of the cooperative, proudly expressed that they are a social organization committed to responsible fishing, and that food safety is also part of this work.
“We knew that in Topón it would take us more time to obtain the certification because we had never heard about it before. Good onboard handling practices were far removed from the local dynamics of the shrimp market, but we never stopped taking steps toward the goal of certification—we moved forward slowly, but surely.”
Mario Becerra
The cooperative’s certification process began in 2019 with training and the implementation of best on-board handling practices protocols, in collaboration with SmartFish AC and CESACH.
Throughout this journey, several events repeatedly put the process on hold, such as the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020 and the collapse of shrimp production starting that same year, which to this day has remained at low levels. This latter event made it difficult to consistently maintain logbooks, both due to the lack of production and the lack of motivation to fulfill this requirement when there were not even significant catches. The extension of this process over several years also meant changes in the cooperative’s boards of directors, which in turn required repeatedly meeting certification requirements due to changes in the cooperative’s legal representation.
Currently, cooperative Los Agostaderos de Topón has developed the capacity to implement BPMB that initially seemed unlikely, such as initiating the cold chain directly from the vessel and carrying out detailed cleaning protocols prior to fishing operations.
During the event, Domingo Morán, president of the board of directors for the 2020–2022 term, shared that he felt very proud and moved to witness this achievement, which is the result of the constant effort to keep the assembly united and working for the common good, even when it is often not rewarded.
“Sometimes institutions outside the cooperative don’t realize how difficult it is to organize more than a hundred people, to keep them motivated and committed. At every monthly meeting, there is a great deal of effort needed to persuade members to stay engaged in the cooperative’s work.”
Domingo Morán
For the training and equipping of the cooperative in BPMB, support was provided by the Sertull Foundation, Conservation International–Mexico, REBIEN-CONANP (through the Sustainable Development Conservation Program - PROCODES), the municipal government, CESACH, and SmartFish AC.
We congratulate Los Agostaderos de Topón for being the first fishing cooperative to obtain this certification in Chiapas and for adding another achievement on their path toward to rescue the value of their shrimp fishery!
