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As scientists plan an expedition to Mexico this fall, animals in danger of extinction, a shy piglet called a vaquita feared that they might have nothing left to find. The last survey in 2019 estimated that only about 10 people remained.
At the same time, fishermen in the area were preparing to embark on illegal nets that scientists say were driving the porpoises to extinction: net walls that stretched steep, 20 feet deep below the surface, and stretched the length of several footballs. fields.
They catch shrimp and fish, called gill nets. They also confuse vaquitas by suffocating mammals. The researchers say nets are the only known cause of the species’ catastrophic decline, but it has proven difficult to get rid of them.
In the midst of a global biodiversity crisis in which an estimated one million species are threatened with extinction, the vaquita’s story illustrates how even the obvious solutions – in this case, an end to illegal fishing – require political will, enforcement, and deep engagement with local communities. The needs of both humans and animals.
“The government still hasn’t given us a solution or an effective way to support our families without fishing illegally,” said Ramón Franco Díaz, president of the federation of fishing cooperatives in San Felipe, a town next to the habitat of the Vaquitas. . “Children need food and clothing.”
Preliminary results from the vaquita study, completed in early November this year, show the animals still exist, but on a razor’s edge. Marine mammal experts say recovery is possible only if their habitats lack gill nets.
Instead, illegal fishing is common in the area and takes place on the plain. Even as a team of scientists from Mexico and the United States arrived in San Felipe for this year’s census, it seemed to continue unabated.
The vaquita population has dropped from an estimated 600 individuals in 1997 to about 10 in 2019. But there are instances where endangered species have returned to similarly small numbers, and the 2019 study documented three healthy calves among the remaining murs. Since then, at least one vaquita has died in its gill nets, according to proponents.
“Although it is preventable, it is becoming extinct due to human activities,” said biologist Jorge Urbán Ramírez, who leads the marine mammal research program at the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur. “This is not a priority.”
‘I try to avoid conflict’
To protect vaquitas, a Mexican government order bans gill nets in most of the Gulf of California, the only place where mammals live. Another bans all fishing in a much smaller part of the bay that has been seen in recent years and is officially called a zero tolerance zone.
But it’s like there are no rules in San Felipe.
This fall, fishing boats carrying gill nets in the open were swayed into the bay by members of the Mexican Navy. According to a report obtained by The New York Times, scientists counted 117 fishing boats in a single day in the restricted zone on November 3.
Referring to the zero-tolerance zone, which covers an area of approximately 7 miles by 15 miles, the text of the order “prohibits the navigation of any vessel within this zone except by surveillance, investigation or net rescue boats.” It also states that “fishing of any kind is prohibited”.
Jonathan White, an environmentalist raising money to fund the survey project, was on one of the ships for part of the research period. He said he counted more than 65 fishing boats on two different days in October, the number set to trigger the highest level of pressure in the zero tolerance zone. Instead, he saw no sanctions. “This is so terrible,” said Mr. White.
Similarly, there were no signs of enforcement in early November, when scientists counted more than 100 boats in the zero tolerance zone, according to the scientists’ report.
When asked about the apparent lack of action, Chief of Staff of the Navy, Rear Chief José H. Orozco Tocaven, said officers adapted the rule to social needs on land, effectively allowing for up to 65 boats to be found. zero tolerance field. “They hadn’t seen more than that,” he said. But he generally acknowledged the lack of implementation. “We try to avoid conflict,” the admiral said, referring to previous uprisings and unrest.
In the last decade, the demand for a big fish called totoaba has made the situation particularly volatile. Any hunting of the endangered totoaba is illegal. But swim bladders command high prices in China for its perceived health benefits, and the trade has attracted organized crime. While many local fishermen shy away from totoaba, the lure of big money is strong.
On Sunday, authorities arrested six people in connection with the tototaba smuggling.
Scientists say all gill nets are dangerous to vaquita, but those used for totoaba are particularly lethal because the two species are roughly the same size.
With the Mexican authorities’ permission, two advocacy groups, the Whale Museum and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, would patrol the bay to remove unattended gill nets. This infuriated fishermen, who often took loans to purchase equipment. In recent years, conflicts have intensified as fishermen gather larger vessels at sea and sometimes shoot at them.
A fisherman died after his small boat collided with a Sea Shepherd in one such incident in December. According to Admiral Orozco and his defenders, a group led by totoaba fishermen rebelled and burned a high-speed interceptor boat, another boat, and some vehicles. Protection groups are no longer allowed to remove nets, just to report them.
Rodrigo López Olivo, who uses gill nets to catch shrimp and other legal species, recalled seeing vaquitas several times during his 20 years at the bay. He said he found dolphins beautiful. But he does not see a future for them.
“How are you going to let a town die to care for six animals?” Mr. López asked.
‘You have to give them a fighting chance’
Autopsies have shown that vaquitas found dead at bay are fat and healthy, except for the foam in their lungs that reveals their cause of death: drowning.
in 2017 scientists tried to bring some were taken in captivity, but the dolphins stopped the effort when that happened. stressed by contact with people he died.
The few remaining porpoises may have a tendency to avoid nets, said Barbara Taylor, a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries who has worked on vaquita conservation for decades. “Those who are there are survivors,” he said. “But you have to give them a fighting chance.”
Recent research shows that long-isolated species are naturally resistant to low genetic diversity; This means that it is less of a concern that health problems from inbreeding often pose a threat in declining populations.
The United States has already banned seafood from the Upper Gulf due to the vaquita situation, and officials are considering further action. “This is something we’re very serious about,” said Kelly Milton, deputy US environment and natural resources trade representative. “Losing the Vaquita would be devastating.”
Yet prawns from San Felipe are currently being shipped to other Mexican states, and some locals say it’s likely that caught mingling and banned prawns end up in the United States anyway.
For part of the last decade, fishermen have been paid to stay out of the water. But local fishermen say that program has come to an end after Mexico’s current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, took office in 2018, and authorities are tolerating gill nets.
“The death of Vaquita represents a massive and sweeping failure by the Mexican state and its institutions,” said Randall Reeves, president of a company. international scientific panel It was created by the International Union for Conservation of Nature to assess the global situation of whales, dolphins and porpoises.
When asked to comment on this article, Mexican environmental officials said in a statement, “The Mexican government emphasizes our country’s desire to care for and protect our natural biodiversity, and particularly cares and wants the conservation of the vaquita.” At the same time, they said, it was necessary to consider the “well-being of fishing communities”.
Again, a small team Attempting to fish with alternative nets faced hurdles. The method catches fewer, but some fishermen find it economical to be able to sell sustainable shrimp at a high price. Such a market has not developed in the region, and they did not get permission for special equipment this season.
Some in the community refuse to give up a species they see as part of their national heritage. Growing up in a fishing family, Ismael Angulo remembers a day in 2004 when his father, Leonardo, who died in 2016, brought home a vaquita, which he says he found dead floating in the water.
“It was almost like finding a mermaid,” said Mr. Angulo. Their uncles and cousins came to see the creature and took pictures. Years later, when she saw a debate on social media about whether vaquitas existed – some locals think it was a myth – she posted the photo. Some fishermen were angry with him for supporting the scientists’ stance, he said, but didn’t delete the post.
“As a fisherman’s son, I want a solution for both fishermen and the species,” said Mr Angulo.
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