Mexican fishermen attack Sea Shepherd vessel protecting vaquita porpoise

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian and agencies

Mexican fishermen attack Sea Shepherd vessel protecting vaquita porpoise

• Two dozen boats douse conservation vessel with gasoline
• As few as 15 vaquita may remain in Gulf of California

Staff and agencies in Mexico City
Thu 10 Jan 2019 21.15 GMT

The Sea Shepherd environmental group has published video showing an attack by about two dozen small fishing boats on the group’s vessel Farley Mowat in Mexico’s Gulf of California.

The fishermen in the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, oppose environmentalists trying to protect the vaquita marina, the world’s smallest and most endangered porpoise.

Sea Shepherd says fishermen threw lead weights, dead fish and even Tabasco sauce at the Farley Mowat and tried to douse the vessel and waters around it with gasoline in the attack on Wednesday.

Link to tweet

The video shows some of the fishing boats carried gill nets, though they are banned within the reserve designed to protect the vaquita.

The vaquita is nearing extinction due to gill nets set illegally to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder commands astronomical prices because it is considered a delicacy in China.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/10/mexican-fishermen-attack-sea-shepherd-vaquita-porpoise

[Bayard]

1. DAMMITT!!

"Experts say as few as 15 of the marine mammals remain in the Gulf, the only place they exist, and none have ever been held in captivity."

"A voyage by researchers in late September sighted six or seven of the creatures, including a mother with a new calf. The sightings suggested that most of the remaining vaquitas have gathered in a roughly a 12- by 25-mile (20 by 40km) rectangle, a small enough area that it could potentially by protected by floating barriers to keep out the small boats used by poachers."

I've been reading about these little guys for awhile now. The human race is intent on destroying other species.