Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 31 augusT 2017

Activists blame Mexican government for near-loss of porpoise

By MARK STEVENSON government compensa-
Associated Press tion funds for not setting
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Con- out gillnets. Most of the
servation groups said Mon- 2,700 local fishermen re-
day that the Mexican gov- ceived just $220 to $440 a
ernment’s lack of action is month while a handful got
to blame for the near-ex- as much as $63,000, ac-
tinction of the critically en- cording to documents ob-
dangered vaquita marina tained through a freedom
porpoise. of information request.
The groups said the Na- Aguilar said that was a
tional Fisheries Commission problem dating back to
didn’t supervise fishing sea- the number of permits
son rules and improperly each fisherman holds and
increased catch quotas in that the system is being re-
the upper Gulf of Califor- viewed in a bid to ensure
nia. They said the commis- more equity in payments.
sion also failed to provide Over the weekend, Mexi-
fishermen with better nets co, China and the United
to avoid trapping vaqui- States agreed to create
tas. a tri-national task force to
The head of the fisheries combat the illegal traffick-
body disputed the report’s In this July 8, 2017 file photo, a young woman with the World Wildlife Fund carries a papier mache ing of totoaba bladders.
contentions. replica of the critically endangered porpoise known as the vaquita marina, during an event in The fish are caught in Mex-
The vaquita is the world’s front of the National Palace calling on the Mexican government to take additional steps to protect ico and usually trafficked
smallest porpoise and the world’s smallest marine mammal, in Mexico City. through the United States
is found only in the gulf, Associated Press before reaching markets
which is also known as the in China. The cooperation
Sea of Cortez. Mexico has But the groups said the fish- thorities had not fulfilled ary constraints. agreement aims to identify
Aguilar said Mexico was
eries council has increased promises to provide fisher-
banned most gill net fishing trafficking routes and mo-
in the upper gulf, but the catch limits for corvina, men with safer nets, say- taking the unusual step of dalities.
another species frequently ing “the fishery authorities requiring even small boats
actions appear to have Experts and the Mexican
been too little, too late. caught in nets that can have not implemented to carry location devices government have an-
trap
that work somewhat like
Corvina alternatives for these com-
vaquitas.
Experts say there are prob- nounced a plan to catch
ably fewer than 30 of the boats may also provide munities.” cellphones, to allow au- the few remaining vaquitas
The head of the fisheries thorities to keep tabs on
cover for fishermen who il-
porpoises remaining. Va- and enclose them in float-
quitas are often killed in legally fish for totoaba. council, Mario Aguilar, de- them. ing pens for protection and
The report claimed the nied his agency hadn’t He said the council was
nets set for totoaba fish, possible breeding. That ef-
whose swim bladders are commission had not car- done enough, saying that actively working with en- fort is expected to begin
ried out supervision of fish-
vironmental agencies to
no permits at all were is-
prized in China. in October. Breeding in
Monday’s report by Green- ing bans on several pro- sued for corvina this sea- enforce the rules and pay- captivity has successfully
tected species in the upper son. Aguilar also said work ing fishermen affected by
peace, the Defenders of saved species such as the
Wildlife and others came gulf. The report also said had been done on small the bans. Those payments red wolf and California
the council had improperly cast nets that were safer have also come in for criti-
one day after Mexico said condor, but the vaquita
it had reached agree- increased corvina catch for vaquitas. cism. The Center for Bio- has only been scientifically
The council said any lack logical Diversity has found
limits by 86 percent be-
ments with China and the described since the 1950s
United States to combat tween 2012 and 2017. of fishing-season enforce- there has been a grossly and has never been bred
unequal distribution of the
ment was due to budget-
Finally, the report said au-
totoaba fishing. or even held in captivity.q