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LAST CHANCE: NO MORE THAN 19 VAQUITA LEFT

The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a small porpoise endemic to Mexico and one of the world’s most endangered animals could face extinction within a year if illegal fishing nets continue to be used. Numbers of the vaquita, which only lives in the upper Gulf of California in Mexico, may now have dropped to less than 9 according to research published in Royal Society Open Science.

Despite adoption of an emergency gillnet ban in May 2015, the estimated rate of decline remains extremely high. Estimated total population decline since 2011 is nearly 99%.  Researchers estimate fewer than 19 vaquitas remained as of summer 2018. From March 2016 to March 2019, 10 dead vaquitas killed in gillnets were found.

-  Historical distribution of vaquitas (yellow hatched area). The Vaquita Refuge is outlined in blue. The gillnet exclusion zone (where fishing with gillnets is banned but other types of fishing is allowed) was given straight boundaries (dotted white) described by single latitude and longitude to facilitate enforcement. An enhanced enforcement zone (red) was recommended by CIRVA in the area where the remaining vaquitas are thought to spend most of their time that also has high levels of totoaba fishing effort. 

The ongoing presence of illegal gillnets despite the emergency ban continues to drive the vaquita towards extinction.

Several studies implicate shrimp fishery bycatches to be responsible for the decline of the vaquita. Illegal fishing with gillnets for another critically endangered species endemic to the Gulf of California, the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldii), is also linked to the decline of the vaquita, which is captured in for its swim bladders used in unproven chinese medicinal benefits

Photo: A vaquita, swiming at Alto Golfo de California, Mexico, by CIRVA/Tom Jefferson

Reference: Jaramillo-Legorreta et al., 2019.  Decline towards extinction of Mexico’s vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus) Royal Society Open Science.

[Photo description: an alive vaquita shows its head and dorsal fin above the water surface.]