Studies reveal that there are only 8 vaquitas left in the Gulf of California.
For not preventing the extinction of, the world’s smallest porpoise, Mexican authorities could be sanctioned in the next few days by the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITIES).
Alex Olivera, Mexico’s representative for the Centers for Biological Diversity, pointed out that less plans and bureaucracy, and more concrete actions are needed in the habitat of the vaquita porpoise, after only eight specimens were registered in the Gulf of California.
Teníamos uno de los animales más hermosos que había en el planeta (la vaquita marina) y nos valió tanta madre que la extinguimos, viva México señores pic.twitter.com/7sUqqpyLxg
— Diegøn’t (@Landersillo) February 28, 2023
Mexican government denies providing resources
The Mexican government presented a protection plan this week in which it mentions that one of its main priorities is to establish alternative fishing techniques to gillnet fishing, where the marine mammal is often entangled and drowns.
Therefore, specialists point out that the efforts implemented by the government to protect the Vaquita porpoise have been irregular. Since the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has largely refused to spend money to compensate fishermen for staying out of the vaquita refuge.
Therefore, Lorenzo Rojas, a marine biologist who has led the international commission to save the vaquita, pointed out that no alternative fishing gear is being offered.
El #Seahorse ha completado el primer mes en su nuevo trabajo protegiendo al mamífero marino MÁS #EN PELIGRO del mundo. ☑️
— Sea Shepherd Latam (@sscslatam) February 28, 2023
La tripulación del Seahorse y la Armada de México se encuentran en el Alto Golfo de California luchando por salvar a la #vaquita marina de la #extinción. pic.twitter.com/mQOGzq7Xtp
Illegal fishing, cause of vaquita porpoise deaths
Biologists have indicated that what has led to the extinction of this marine mammal has been the use of fishing nets, which have been placed illegally to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is a delicacy in China and is priced at thousands of dollars per pound.
The activist group Sea Shepherd, which has joined the Mexican Navy in surveillance operations to stop the fishermen and help destroy the nets, which was banned in 2017, has successfully reduced net fishing.
Therefore, a fishing magazine, Notipesca, has reported that the Mexican government plans to fund a study that will examine the teeth of the vaquitas collected long ago in hopes of proving that they lived in a wetland fed by the Colorado River that contained a mixture of salt and fresh water.
TYT Newsroom
