The titanic task of preserving the marine vaquita, the mammal closest to extinction

Aboard two ships of the NGO Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, environmental advocates work 24 hours a day hand in hand with Mexican authorities to save the almost extinct marine vaquita in the Upper Gulf of California, in the Sea of Cortez.

The most recent scientific study — conducted in October and November 2021 by Sea Shepherd's MV Sharpie and the Museum's MV Narwhal — managed to detect between seven and eight adult sea vaquitas and between one and two young.

“They are the ones that could be counted, but there may be other vaquitas because this is a great place. On a map it looks small, but from the sea, it's huge,” said Pritam Singh, president of Sea Shepherd, in an interview with the EFE agency.

This, despite the drastic reduction of specimens in recent years, remains hopeful that, thanks to the incombustible work of Sea Shepherd and the collaboration with the government of Mexico, a gradual growth of this endemic species will be achieved.

Since January 2022, Sea Shepherd and the Secretariat of the Navy (Semar) began a new joint information and response protocol that resulted in a substantial reduction in the number of fishing vessels in the Zero Tolerance Zone and the length of time the nets remain in the water, they said at a press conference. from San Felipe, in the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California.

Operation Miracle is carrying out its eighth campaign these days with the Sharpie and John Paul DeJoria ships guarding the Zero Tolerance Zone, a perimeter in the Upper Gulf where no vessel can sail.

In addition, they remove nets that are drifting and that can catch marine vaquitas, the marine mammal that is closest to extinction, but also totoabas, a fish whose crop is bought for exorbitant sums, since it is attributed various properties in traditional Chinese medicine.

Totoaba cannot be marketed, but there are still those who try to do so and with this they harm the vaquita, which can get caught in the nets, as do other species such as turtles, dolphins and even sharks.

Entanglement in fishing nets is the greatest documented threat to the survival of the species.

Therefore, every morning, very early, at the only regulatory access ramp for fishermen, Semar, together with other bodies such as the National Commission for Aquaculture and Fisheries (Conapesca), the fishermen's permits and their tools are reviewed to verify that their work will not harm the vaquita.

One of the fishermen who undergoes this review every morning and who preferred to remain anonymous considered in the interview with EFE that these types of measures and controls are positive.

And he said that, in case he encounters a vaquita in his networks, he must release it “so that they reproduce more”.

However, he assured that if regulatory nets are used, with thin thread, both the totoaba and the vaquita break the net and do not get caught.

Another fisherman said that the reviews are positive because they protect the work of those who have all the papers in order, but he said that it would be necessary to do these same exercises in other areas, from where, he said, “pangas” (boats) come out.

“A lot of pangas come out that don't have a permit and that affects those who have permission,” he said.

In addition to constant surveillance at sea and ramp checks, there are many other ways in which the authorities seek to control that fishing in the area complies with established standards.

For example, they conduct several daily patrols by sea, land and air in which they check fishing nets and, among other things, look for nets that may have been stranded on the beaches.

“The activities that Semar does is to maintain the rule of law in the ribera area and we have been providing escort and security to Profepa (Federal Attorney's Office for Environmental Protection) and Conapesca to carry out their work, which is to inspect,” the third Infantry Master of the Navy, Marino Garcia, told Efe during a overland checks in San Felipe.

In addition, the authorities respond promptly to calls from Sea Shepherd's ships when they detect the presence of a ship in the Zero Tolerance Zone or any anomalies in the area.

Operation Milagro, which is a partnership between six Mexican government agencies and is led by Semar and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, especially in this eighth campaign maintains the hope of the survival of the vaquita marina, the smallest species of porpoise in the world.