The vaquita porpoise is a Critically Endangered species of true porpoises and it lives in our neighborhood, a tiny area in the extreme northern Sea of Cortez/Gulf of California, in Baja California, Mexico. Last week we attended a very informative presentation by Dr. Thomas A. Jefferson about these endearing creatures.
Jefferson shared the challenge of protecting the remaining vaquitas while acknowledging the difficulty of making major changes in local fishing practices in an economy where fishing is big part of survival. The major danger to vaquita population is the current practice of using gill (nearly invisible) nets to gather fish and shrimp from the waters off the eastern coast of Baja.
Since adding the vaquitas to the Endangered List in 1994, the Mexican government has taken several steps to attempt to save the vaquitas including the creation of the Biosphere Reserve of the Upper Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta in 1993 but the most effective step to date (according to Rojas-Bracho & Fueyo article in Whalewatch 2010 v39#1) is probably the creation of the International Committee for Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA) in 1996. This committee is tasked with looking for solutions that meld both the scientific and social-economic elements of the problem. Through their efforts additional actions have been taken by the Mexican government including a 2007 Conservation Program for Endangered Species (PROCER) which requires a Species Conservation Action Program (PACE).
What that means to Baja fishermen is that there is a restricted fishing zone, gill net fishing is being discouraged, alternative fishing methods are being studied and a compensation plan is being implemented to help the locals to transition from the practice of gill net fishing to other occupations.
With the population of vaquitas dwindling from the 500s to 100 or 200s since this research first began the question arises as to whether these measures will be quick enough and sufficient to save the vaquitas from extinction.
To learn more about the vaquitas, read Viva Vaquitas
Live vaquita photos taken by Thomas A. Jefferson under permit (Oficio No. DR/488/08) from the Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), within a natural protected area subject to special management and decreed as such by the Mexican Government.