It has 80 members and is one of the oldest cooperatives in the western Baja California coast. The cooperative controls extraction, processing, and marketing of all benthonic fisheries inside its authorized concession around the island.

It has an exemplary fishing resources management and determines more precautionary policies during meetings than those diagnosed by the fishing authority. Most service utilities like water, electricity, health, and education that island inhabitants count on are provided by a strong subsidy from the cooperative.

COBI started to work with the cooperative in 2003 in a pilot project establishing and assessing marine reserves to recover abalone species and ecosystem functions. If the scientific results are convincing, the cooperative will evaluate changing a management system based on quotas and capture sizes to one based in refuges or no-take reserves.

Check the project executive summary here.