Mexico hopes to avoid sanctions on vaquita's near extinction
By MARK STEVENSON
March 3, 2023
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico is seeking to avoid potential trade sanctions this week for failing to stop the near-extinction of the vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise and most endangered marine mammal. Studies estimate there may be as few as eight vaquitas remaining in the Gulf of California, the only place they exist and where they often become entangled in illegal gill nets and drown.
The government submitted a protection plan this week to the international wildlife body known as CITES, which had rejected an earlier version. It lists establishing “alternative fishing techniques” to gillnet fishing as one its top priorities.
In reality, the government’s protection efforts have been uneven. The administration of President Andrés Manuel López has largely refused to spend money to compensate fishermen for staying out of the vaquita refuge and to stop using gill nets. The nets are set illegally to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladders are a delicacy in China worth thousands of dollars per pound.
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Sea Shepherd says its joint efforts with the Mexican Navy — which have sunk about 193 concrete blocks onto the bottom of the Gulf to snag illegal nets in the reserve area — has resulted in a 79% reduction in the amount of time small boats spent illegally fishing in the protected area.
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https://apnews.com/article/vaquita-endangered-porpoise-mexico-environment-c713787388d5e5b693b77c4cd0b5e9c6
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