Mexico removes 'ghost' nets to save tiny porpoise
Mexico removes 'ghost' nets to save tiny porpoise
December 15, 2016
The Mexican government has removed so-called "ghost" fishing nets that are left floating in the sea in another effort to save the world's smallest porpoise, the vaquita marina, from extinction.
The environment ministry said Thursday that the navy, conservation groups and fishermen removed 103 nets between October 10 and December 7 in the upper Gulf of California.
The vaquita's population dropped to around 60 late last year despite the government's deployment of navy ships in April 2015 to prevent illegal fishing with nets that accidentally ensnare the porpoise.
Three drones joined the campaign in July, armed with high-resolution cameras to spot illegal activities in the Gulf area also known as the Sea of Cortez.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-12-mexico-ghost-nets-tiny-porpoise.html#jCp
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Mexico plans to catch, protect last few vaquita porpoises
Mark Stevenson, Associated Press
Updated 11:40 pm, Thursday, December 15, 2016
MEXICO CITY (AP) — So few of Mexico's vaquita porpoises remain that the international committee to protect the endangered species is preparing to catch and enclose as many as it can in a last-ditch effort to save them from extinction, experts said Thursday.
It will be a risky effort, because the species has never been held successfully in captivity.
According to rough estimates, only about three dozen of the world's smallest porpoise remain in the upper Gulf of California, the only place it lives. With population numbers falling by 40 percent annually — there were 60 alive a year ago — there could now be as few as eight breeding females left.
Fishermen lured by Chinese demand for a fish that swims in the same waters have apparently defeated Mexico's efforts to protect the vaquita in its natural habitat.
More:
http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/Mexico-plans-to-catch-protect-last-few-vaquita-10798437.php
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