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A6 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 4 March 2023
Mexico hopes to avoid sanctions on vaquita's near extinction

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mex- But that's still a lot of fishing
ico is seeking to avoid po- time spent in an area that's
tential trade sanctions this supposed to be totally off-
week for failing to stop the limits.
near-extinction of the va- "We have to do better,"
quita, the world's smallest said Pritam Singh, the Sea
porpoise and most endan- Shepherd chairman.
gered marine mammal. A fisheries trade magazine,
Studies estimate there may Notipesca, has reported
be as few as eight vaqui- that the Mexican govern-
tas remaining in the Gulf of ment plans to fund a study
California, the only place examining teeth of vaqui-
they exist and where they tas gathered in the past in
often become entangled hopes of proving they once
in illegal gill nets and drown. lived in an estuary habitat
The government submitted fed by the Colorado River
a protection plan this week containing a mix of salt and
to the international wild- freshwater.
life body known as CITES, This undated file photo provided by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Little freshwater comes
which had rejected an a vaquita porpoise. down to the Mexican wa-
earlier version. It lists estab- Associated Press ters since the United States
lishing "alternative fishing began building dams on
techniques" to gillnet fish- nets, says the efforts have Flora, could recommend gerous fishing methods. the river the 1930s. Ac-
ing as one its top priorities. successfully reduced the trade sanctions if Mexico Sea Shepherd has for years cording to one theory, the
In reality, the government's gillnet fishing. doesn't take reasonable posted ships in the Gulf of United States — not Mexico
protection efforts have But the Mexican govern- action. California to try to discour- — would be responsible for
been uneven. ment has not spent the "There is no alternative age the illegal fishing and the vaquitas' decline, by
The administration of Presi- money needed to train and fishing gear" being of- remove abandoned "ghost cutting off the flow.
dent Andrés Manuel López compensate fishermen for fered, said Lorenzo Rojas, nets" that keep trapping va- However, experts note
has largely refused to spend using alternate fishing tech- a marine biologist who has quitas. Sea Shepherd says that vaquitas found dead
money to compensate fish- niques such as nets or lines headed the international its joint efforts with the Mex- typically have died by
ermen for staying out of that won't trap vaquitas. committee to save the va- ican Navy — which have drowning in nets, not from
the vaquita refuge and to "What is needed is fewer quita. "The fisheries authori- sunk about 193 concrete malnourishment or other
stop using gill nets. The nets plans and bureaucracy, ties have been notable for blocks onto the bottom of causes.
are set illegally to catch and more concrete ac- their absence," leaving the the Gulf to snag illegal nets In 2020, the Mexican gov-
totoaba, a fish whose swim tions in the vaquita's habi- effort to change practices in the reserve area — has ernment publicized efforts
bladders are a delicacy in tat," said Alex Olivera, the up to civic groups and fish- resulted in a 79% reduction to crack down on what it
China worth thousands of Mexico representative for ermen. in the amount of time small called "The Cartel of the
dollars per pound. the Center for Biological Di- The Mexican government boats spent illegally fishing Sea," arresting a fisherman
The activist group Sea versity. banned the use of gill nets in the protected area. named Sunshine Rodriguez
Shepherd, which has joined Olivera noted that CITES, in the area in 2017, with the It dropped from 449 hours and accusing him of being
the Mexican Navy in pa- Convention on Interna- understanding it would pro- between Oct. 10 and Dec. the leader of an a crime
trols to deter the fishermen tional Trade in Endangered vide support payments and 5 2021, to 164 hours in the ring that trafficked in totoa-
and to help destroy gill Species of Wild Fauna and training on using less dan- same period of 2022. ba swim bladders.q

Police: Illegal refinery blast in Nigeria kills at least 12

who were trying to steal oil, to an illegal refinery site in ers. They are more rampant
state police spokesperson at least five vehicles. in the oil-rich Niger Delta
Grace Iringe-Koko said. Fyneface Dumnamene, ex- region, where most of the
"Preliminary investigation ecutive director of Youths nation's oil facilities are lo-
by the Police Command and Environmental Advo- cated.
indicates that the victims cacy Centre, said a spark The workers at such facili-
were scooping crude prod- from the exhaust pipe of a ties rarely adhere to safety
ucts when the site caught bus loaded with gallons of standards, leading to fre-
fire," Iringe-Koko said. crude oil ignited the explo- quent fires, including one in
Five vehicles, four auto-rick- sion as the driver attempt- Imo state last year in which
shaws and a motorcycle ed to depart. more than 100 people
"were all burned to ashes," "Everybody in about five ve- were killed.
she said, adding that au- hicles there was all burnt," Nigeria lost at least $3 billion
Smoke rise from the site of an illegal refinery explosion In Emuo-
ha council area of the southern Rivers, Nigeria, Friday, March 3, thorities were working to Dumnamene told the AP. worth of crude oil to theft
2023. determine how many peo- Residents rushed in to try between January 2021
Associated Press ple died. rescue some of those at the and February 2022. Shady
People in the area told The scene, but the explosion business operators often
By CHINEDU ASADU local residents reported a Associated Press that doz- was "a massive one which avoid regulators by setting
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — An much higher death toll. ens may have died in the shook our buildings," said Is- up refineries in remote ar-
explosion and fire near an The explosion in Emuoha fire that raged for hours sac Amaechi, who lives in eas such as the one in Imo,
illegal oil refinery site in Ni- council area of the south- and that the victims were the area. the Nigerian Upstream Pe-
geria's Niger Delta region ern Rivers state occurred mostly young people who Illegal refineries are a lucra- troleum Regulatory Com-
killed at least 12 people Fri- along a pipeline targeted planned to siphon oil from tive business in Nigeria, one mission (NUPRC) said last
day, police said, although by illegal refinery operators a pipeline and to transport of Africa's top oil produc- year.q