Mexico's vaquita marina on verge of extinction: WWF

Record ID: 103413

  • Title: Mexico's vaquita marina on verge of extinction: WWF
  • Date: 16th May 2016
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (MAY 16, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR WWF MEXICO, OMAR VIDAL, SAYING: "I think that they (government) should increase surveillance and definitely the consumption in China, the Chinese government and authorities have the responsibility of stopping the consumption of the air bladder (of the fish). This demand is spurring this fishing in Mexico."
  • Embargoed: 31st May 2016 22:57
  • Keywords: environment Mexico vaquita marina endangers Gulf of California
  • Location: MEXICO CITY, SAN FELIPE PORT, BAJA CALIFORNIA, TIJUANA, MEXICO
  • City: MEXICO CITY, SAN FELIPE PORT, BAJA CALIFORNIA, TIJUANA, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Environment,Nature/Wildlife
  • Reuters ID: LVA0044I26FYB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Mexico has called on authorities to extend a ban on net fishing in the pristine waters of Baja California after the conservation group reported that the vaquita is on the verge of extinction, with reportedly just 60 left.
    The vaquita is the world's smallest porpoise and the only place that it exists is in the upper Gulf of California region. The biggest threat to the mammal is nets used illegally in waters.
    Authorities have their work cut out of them as they patrol the vast waters of the Baja California region pulling out nets from the water. Often a lifeless vaquita is found dead in the netting.
    Gillnetting has already been banned in the waters of Baja California to help fish species regain numbers and fishermen have been compensated for the loss in stock. But with the two-year ban on the practice set to expire, Omar Vidal, the Director General for the WWF in Mexico, told Reuters that fishing restrictions need to be extended.
    "Given how the situation is we think that the alternative at this moment is to shut off net fishing so that the vaquita is not affected, so that no more vaquitas will die, extend fishing prohibitions, which was originally for two years, indefinitely until there is an improvement in the vaquita (population)," he said.
    According to the WWF, the vaquita population has declined by over 90 percent in just 20 years. One big threat is the illegal fishing trade of the totoaba fish, whose air bladder is a delicacy in China.
    Vidal said that vaquita are being caught in nets used to catch the tatoaba and Chinese authorities have the responsibility to curtail the illegal trade from Mexico to Asia.
    "I think that they (government) should increase surveillance and definitely the consumption in China, the Chinese government and authorities have the responsibility of stopping the consumption of the air bladder (of the fish). This demand is spurring this fishing in Mexico," he added.
    The last population count of the vaquitas in Baja California counted nearly 100 of the species in 2014. The death of some 40% of the vaquita population has alarmed conservationists who say it also rings alarm bells for other fish species in the region.
    "Save and look after the vaquita and we are saving other species and securing the survival of fishermen," declared Vidal.
    The vaquita mammal was first discovered in 1958 and is one of the newest species to be discovered in Baja California. Conservationists warn that unless the Mexican government acts the vaquita could disappear forever.
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