Lobster, conch and oyster seasons open in November on Mexico's coasts, Conapesca says

Mexico's fisheries commission, Conapesca, has announced the fishing seasons that open in November, among them lobster, conch and oysters. In a release dated October 29, the commission, part of the agriculture ministry (SADER), said seven fishing periods begin in November in the Baja California peninsula, Sinaloa, Tabasco, Tamaulipas and Quintana Roo. In the same period, catches of one mullet species and of tuna will be banned, to protect their reproduction and rearing cycles.

The dates are based on technical opinions from the Mexican Institute for Research in Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture (IMIPAS), Conapesca said.

The November openings and closures

For travelers, the dates mark when these species may be caught in each area. The lobster zone runs from Boca de la Soledad to Cabo San Lucas, at the southern tip of the peninsula, and takes in a strip along the peninsula's whole Gulf of California coast; the conch season covers the Quintana Roo coast. The tuna closure applies only to the vessels that chose its second alternative period.

Conapesca asks the public to report illegal fishing on 669 915 6913 or through its online reporting system, SIDEPI, which it says is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Shellfish and health

An open fishing season is not a health clearance. Mexico's health regulator, COFEPRIS, separately bans the harvest, sale and consumption of bivalve shellfish, such as oysters, from areas where monitoring finds that toxic plankton or marine toxins pose a health risk. It calls the measure a veda sanitaria. Its table of recent closures for red tide and marine toxins, last updated on October 12, lists four zones or permit holders in Baja California's San Felipe and Alto Golfo harvest areas as closed, the oldest since June 11. Others have reopened, among them San Hipólito in Baja California Sur, closed from July 3 to July 31. A separate COFEPRIS table of precautionary closures in 2026, read on October 30, lists three harvest areas in Jalisco and one in Sonora as closed.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tells travelers to avoid raw seafood, "including items ‘cooked’ with citrus juice, vinegar, or other acidic liquid (such as ceviche)." It says toxins can be found in shellfish including oysters, shrimp and lobster, which usually become contaminated during or after algae blooms, and advises: "If you’re visiting an area that’s recently experienced an algae bloom, sometimes called ‘red tide’ or ‘brown tide,’ avoid eating shellfish."

For what a meal out costs and what restaurants can put on the bill, see our guide to eating out in Mexico.