“In Teacapán, a small fishing village on the coast of Sinaloa, Mexico, Belen Delgado made a discovery that would change his life and the lives of everyone he knew,” reports Esther Honig in FERN’s latest story, in partnership with the podcast Snap Judgment.
“It was 2007, and years of overfishing had depleted the local supply of fish. The town’s fishermen were struggling to provide for their families, and businesses failed as the local economy dried up. That’s when Belen caught his first glimpse of the callo de hacha, a large black scallop that’s one of the most prized species in the Gulf of California. Belen heard that a shrimp boat had snared a callo de hacha in its net, and he decided this could only mean one thing: that a massive bank of the valuable shellfish sat just off the town’s shore. Such a discovery could revitalize Teacapán and allow it to prosper for years to come. But reaching the ocean floor was only the first challenge; if there really were treasure there, Belen would have to protect it.”