Illegal Fishing of the Vaquitas in Mexico 

Have you ever heard of the vaquita? This fish-like porpoise (also known as phocoena sinus) is critically endangered, meaning there are very few left in the world. To be specific, there are only 10 left due to illegal fishing in Mexico’s Gulf of California. This is also where the illegal fishing of the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) occurred. Though the vaquitas are not directly fished for, they often get trapped in the gillnets used for fishing totoaba, eventually drowning and dying. Now, the vaquita is one of the rarest marine animals. 

This porpoise was discovered by scientist Kenneth Norris in 1950 and was identified in 1958. For many years the Mexican government has been working with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to help repopulate the vaquitas. In early April of 2022, the Mexican government announced that two new Vaquitas were born, which brought the population to around 10. This was a surprise because recently Mexico had scrapped a zero tolerance policy for fishing in nearby areas. This would essentially open up the opportunity to fish there. Although Mexico has still banned gill nets, people illegally use them to fish for totoabas. Even though the government wants to keep the vaquitas from extinction, the fishing of the totoaba is making it increasingly hard to keep a sustainable number of vaquitas. The fishing of the totoaba is increasing because of the demand for their bladders, which are considered a delicacy in China and are thus more valuable than gold. This results in overfishing of the totoaba. 

To keep the Vaquitas from going extinct, the Mexican government should enforce the ban of gillnets even more around the vaquitas’ habitat. Without the gillnets, the vaquitas will no longer get stuck in the nets and drown. In 1997, there were 567 of them, quite a lot compared to right now. In 2008, there were 245. In 26 years, from 1997 to 2023, 557 Vaquitas have died. Thanks for reading and I hope you learned as much as I did about this amazing creature who is surviving extinction.