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VAQUITA 

2021: According to current estimates, there would be less than 10 Vaquitas left.

However, the fewer there are, the more difficult it is to estimate these numbers.

The Gulf of California harbor porpoise population has suffered a record 98.6% loss of individuals since 2011, earning the title of the world's rarest marine mammal.

SCS is committed to working on "Vaquita friendly" fishing methods to ensure that the Vaquita has a better chance of seeing its population flourish.

Vaquita

“The Gulf of California porpoise" (Phocoena sinus), commonly known as Vaquita, is the smallest cetacean in the world.



Endemic to the Gulf of California, the species is classified as "critically endangered" on the Red List of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

Vaquita Action SCS
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PRO NATURA NOROESTE A.C.

Our partner onsite​

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The collaboration between Pro Natura Noroeste A.C. and SCS began in 2014.

As part of its work on the world's most endangered species, the SCS decided to join the fight to save the last Vaquitas from extinction. SCS therefore decided to identify the local institutions involved in this cause, and that's how both NGOs got to discussing the project of developing alternative so-called "Vaquita friendly" fishing gears, which would help avoid bycatches (see below for examples of such fishing gear).

As a result, the SCS and Pro Natura Noroeste A.C. signa Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the funds collected are used to support the project in 2015.

On field: Pro Natura
Project : Vaquita Friendly

RS - INP - MX technology

Source: Pro Natura Noroeste A.C.

Gillnets

Source: Pro Natura Noroeste A.C.

Experimental fish trap Source: Pro Natura Noroeste A.C.

Nets - RS - INP - MX technology

and experimental nets known as " Vaquita-friendly “

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Thanks to all of the funds provided in 2015, Pro Natura Noroeste A.C. was able to manufacture 48 fish traps (24 funded by WWF and 24 funded by the SCS), carry out 94 experimental field trips (including 80 funded by the SCS - 20 trips with the nets and 60 with the traps) and equip some local fishermen with the new gears.​

 

The tests carried out required optimization in 2016 in terms of fishing time, recording statistics, distribution of the nets and traps by boat, costs (e.g. types of bait) and benefits (e.g. preservation methods of fishery products to expand sales to adjacent communities).​

 

The Pro Natura Noroeste A.C. team is working alongside on the regulation, on the methods' traceability and on the creation of a label. It is studying the marketing process of products under this label and is trying to unite local fishermen backing "Vaquita-friendly" fishing so that they can advocate for them and raise consciousness.

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The Vaquita and Totoaba are both listed on the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List as Critically Endangered. They are also listed in Appendix I of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).​

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The Mexican government, aware of the importance of preserving biodiversity, took part in April 2015 in this cause involving many NGOs (WWF, Pro Natura, Sea Shepherd, etc.) and international commissions (CIRVA, OECD, IWC, etc.). The government's provisions were to allow NGOs, in collaboration with the country's environmental authorities.

​However, in October 2015, the authorities banned all forms of fishing, including those intended for research, for a period of 2 years! These authorities claimed it was impossible to establish control tools in order to differentiate between fishermen and research-oriented fishing or alternative fishing methods.​ In addition, the authorities still have no legal framework to effectively prosecute illegal fishing.​ In short, only a few fishermen currently use a harmless fishing tackle for the California porpoise, which has since continued to disappear amidst these contradictory initiatives.

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Today, the fate of the Vaquita depends on the attention given to the development of solutions which, in combination, could allow it to thrive again:

  • First and foremost, a halt to the installation of gillnets in its habitat and the removal of all those lying there

  • The enforcement of laws that prohibit the use of gillnets in marine protected areas

  • The dismantling of illegal Totoaba trafficking networks from Mexico to China (where it is eventually exported), or even directly stopping the need for China to consume fish by finding an artificial alternative for example

  • Improvement of alternative "Vaquita friendly" fishing gear and education of fishermen and future fishermen on its importance for the species

  • Creation and implementation of a traceability system for shrimp sold locally to promote those caught with alternative gear

  • A ban in all other countries on the import of any seafood from the upper Gulf of California to Mexico

  • The development of alternative livelihoods to fishing for local people (e.g. agriculture)

While natural factors have a definite influence on its mortality rate, its vulnerability is more largely linked to human activities, and in particular to artisanal fishing and poaching of the Totoaba fish (Totoaba macdonaldi), (as well as shrimp fishing, the most profitable business in the region, ndlr) carried out with gillnets. Unfortunately, the Vaquita has been a bycatch of these nets for many years (and still is, ndlr).
Fishing pressure is all the more devastating when the reproductive cycle of females is long.
 

 

According to current estimates, if the effort to completely eliminate Vaquita bycatch is not strengthened, the population will become extinct by 2022. Many past conservation efforts have helped slow its decline, including the establishment of marine protected areas free of gillnet fishing, but none of these efforts has effectively made it stop. The official ban on fishing with these nets in these areas was not strictly enforced. The recommendations of the CIRVA on the complete absence of bycatch and the development of alternative fishing gears were endorsed by the Mexican government in April 2015, with the following provisions: an increase in the Vaquita refuge area, a 2-year moratorium on fishing activities specifically threatening the species, financial compensation for fishermen, as well as the toughening of Mexico's fight against Totoaba poaching.
 

 

These measures are supported by the International Whaling Commission's Scientific Committee on Small Cetaceans (2015) and CITES (2016)." NEREUS, April 2016

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