Adios Vaquita?
Down in the Gulf of California, the smallest member of the porpoise family, the beautiful vaquita ("little cow"), is balanced on the edge of extinction. The vaquita, who only live in the northern portion of the Gulf, which has been designated a World Heritage Site due to its awe inspiring diversity of wildlife, is now the most endangered marine mammal in the world. It's existence is so precarious that the vaquita may only have a few more years before it will never been seen again. There literally may only be a few dozen left in the wild.
The vaquita are being driven to extinction by illegal gillnet fishing. An increase in the illegal fishing for totoaba, also endangered, the has led to more of the vaquita being caught in gillnets and drowned as bycatch. The vaquita has been listed as critically a endangered since 1996, when its numbers were estimated to be near 600.
Totoaba, is a fish, also found only in the Gulf of California. Once abundant, it too now is in severe decline. With its young raised in the Colorado River delta, the lack of fresh water flowing through the delta to the Gulf has contributed to the decline of totoaba populations, as has overfishing. Only about 4 percent of the volume of fresh water that flowed into the Gulf 100 years ago makes it to the delta today.
In addition to environmental issues surrounding the delta and overfishing, the totoaba has another problem: the Chinese. It's swim bladder is considered a delicacy and its meat is prized for soups. Believed to be a treatment for fertility, circulatory, and skin problems, this erroneous belief in its healing powers has helped fuel the illegal totoaba fishery that is killing the vaquita. Some totoaba is illegally exported to the United States where it is often mislabeled as white sea bass.
The Gulf is showing other signs of imbalance as species are overfished. As sharks and other predators see their numbers decline, the Humboldt squid, which eat fish and other Humboldt squid, is seeing its numbers explode. These squid can get up to 100 pounds and reach seven feet in length. There are some anecdotal reports of squid attacks on humans, but that appears to be rare. Meanwhile, the squid are being caught and mostly sold to Asian markets.
The totoaba is now beginning to be farmed, and a captive breeding program is being developed for the vaquita, but its implementation in October of this year may be too late.
Vaquita photos by Paula Olson, NOAA.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto initiated a program to protect the vaquita and totoaba in April, 2015, implementing a two-year ban on gillnet fishing and support for local fishermen impacted by the plan to help discourage illegal poaching. The gillnet ban expires at the end of May, and if not renewed - and expanded - the beautiful vaquita may vanish from this world forever.
Organizations like the World Wildlife Fund are advocating action be taken to prevent the vaquita from extinction. Their recommendations are:
1. Permanently ban gillnet use in the northern Gulf of California where the vaquita live
2. Increase enforcement actions to deter illegal fishing in that area of the Gulf
3. Crack down on illegally poached fish sent from Mexico through the U.S. to China
This may be the last chance for the vaquita. If you would like to sign a petition in support of these recommendations, please click here.
For more information: http://www.vivavaquita.org/act-now-to-save-the-vaquita.html
