Around 1974, the first air compressor diving rigs were developed (Cudney-Bueno 2000). The use of air compressors allowed fishers to operate at greater depths and for longer periods of time, increasing productivity per outing (Doode 1999). The 1970s saw a dramatic increase in the population of Bahia de Kino during which the town grew from just a few hundred residents to several thousand. Most of the new residents were immigrants to the region, some from as far south as Michoacán, other from the deserts of Chihuahua and Coahuila. Most had little fishing or boating experience, the developing fishery offered steady employment at a time when many of Mexico's rural ejidos or cooperative farming and ranching communities were suffering economic setbacks and low productivity (Simon 1997). In 1975, the Mexican government placed a ban on totoaba fishing – the fishery had been decimated, primarily due to over-fishing at spawning grounds at the mouth of the Colorado River (Bahre & Bourillon 2002). In the late 1970s a plan was proposed to build a marina and marine service center in the nearby Laguna Santa Cruz. A dock and ramp were constructed, a trailerpark developed and a channel dredged through the barrier bars across the mouth of the laguna. The project is said to have bankrupted itself. Remains of the dredge are still visible in the laguna. The dredged channel is still usable by vessels drawing less than 1.5 meters but local knowledge is essential for entry as there are no aids to navigation associated with the canal. From the early 1980s through until the late 1990s the Bahia de Kino fishery increased both in intensity and extent. More fishers in more boats operating over an ever-increasing area kept regional production levels in positive growth. The national economic crisis during this period resulted in a new influx of immigrants to the area (Doode 1999). Trapping for crab ("Callinectes bellicosus") became an important addition to Kino fishing effort starting about 1990 (Weaver et al. 2003). It is unclear if Kineño fishers had utilized benthic trapping technology prior to the development of the crab fishery . Several shrimp mariculture operations began operations around the Bahía de Kino area in the late 1990s and into the present. The local socioeconomic impact of these operations has not been studied. It is unknown if local fishers have interacted with these operations in any economically meaningful way. In 2006, a plan for development of a marina in Kino Bay was approved by the state governor's office.