The Andrés Quintana Roo Cooperative is one of the cooperatives that has undergone the most transformations. It began in 1962 with 129 members before fragmenting into three different cooperatives: The Andrés Quintana Roo, Banco Chinchorro, and Langosteros del Caribe. The three cooperatives fish in the Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve and worked collectively to achieve the decree of a large fishing refuge of 12,257 ha in 2013 within the Reserve.
Gerardo Arreola, president of the cooperative, and three other members are the only ones who know the beginnings of this group. With 15 members and 22 applicants, Gerardo faces the great challenge of transmitting the founding spirit to the new members, so everyone values and respects the cooperative in the same way that its founders did. Gerardo says that he dreams that the cooperative’s brand sells its product to buyers who value the changes that have been made around sustainable fishing. He encourages the joint work being done with the organizations and institutions involved in this process as the Kanan Kay Alliance.
