The Vaquita is a rare species of porpoise, found only in the norther part of the Gulf of California. Unfortunately due to illegal fishing the Vaquita and it’s habitat are under attack and only 60 individuals remain in the wild.
“We are watching this precious native species disappear before our eyes,” said Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, the chairman of a scientific panel who tracks threats to the Vaquitas. The Vaquita is the worlds smallest porpoise, generally less than five feet long when fully grown, and it is easy for the animal to become entangled in fishing nets.
Demand for an organ from a large endangered fish called the totoaba, which swims in the same area, is driving the vaquita’s disappearance. The totoaba’s swim bladder is dried, smuggled across the border to California and then shipped to China, where it is considered a delicacy and sells for as much as $10,000 per kilogram, or close to $5,000 a pound.
Previous to the demand for totoaba, the vaaquita was threatened by long gill nets set by local fishermen to catch shrimp and finfish. Years of efforts to introduce vaquita-safe trawl nets and encourage the fishermen to switch to work in other fields, like tourism, have had little effect.
Despite the Mexican Navy’s efforts to protect the Vaquita and its habitat from illegal fishing, experts have warned that the population is slipping closer to extinction. After the expert panel, known as the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita, estimated in 2014 that the number of vaquitas had fallen to 97 from about 570 in 1997, the Mexican government agreed that it needed to take additional action.
“The government efforts are huge,” said Oona Layolle, who leads a campaign by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to work with the navy to patrol the vaquita’s habitat. But in the five months since she has captained one of the conservation group’s two boats, it has become clear to her that many totoaba fishermen are evading enforcement.
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