As we watch the water lap against boats beside the boardwalk, I begin to understand why many of our conversations keep ending on the words “círculo de la vida”—the circle of life. The fishermen respect the vulnerabilities in an octopus’s lifecycle; and yet, they must continue to fish, and protect their future ability to fish, so that they can sustain their families. After a day out at sea with Alcocer Diaz, I still can’t answer the existential quandary of whether or not to eat octopus, but I can appreciate how considered the creature is in their fishing method. On the flip side, I feel guilty for a months-prior omakase dinner in New York City that featured creamy octopus eggs, not understanding how precious they are.
Alcocer Diaz, meanwhile, is preoccupied that our fishing efforts were unsuccessful. So much so, that he motorbikes off at the end of lunch, returning with some achiote-rich rechado (a chili paste for cooking, and regional specialty) as a parting gift.
A couple of days later, I sit with Landeo on the restaurant terrace of Maroma. The menu before me has a blue icon beside various dishes to indicate that the key ingredient has been sourced via Pesca Con Futuro—the chef hopes that, soon, all of his seafood will come through the collective.
“When I started working here on the Riviera Maya, I thought it was going to be like Disneyland in terms of ingredients,” Landeo says. “But there have been real challenges. The majority of hotels here are all-inclusive, so the product they use is different than what we offer.” He hopes that Pesca Con Futuro can continue to get the buy-in from chefs and hotels that it needs to expand even further—and that all begins with diners. “For me, Pesca Con Futuro just makes sense.”
We look out at the sloshing sea, struck by the stories the fisherman told us.“I also want my son to find a world better than the one I got,” he says. “And it’s why I want to work responsibly.”
Maybe we aren’t so different from the octopuses, diligently guarding their offspring. It’s all a bet on the future.