Illegal fishing of protected totoaba fish in Mexico’s Gulf of California and their subsequent trafficking and retail as part of transnational organised crime are responsible for the rapid decline of vaquitas, the world’s most endangered marine mammal.
At the 74th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Members will consider Mexico’s application to register captive breeding operation EOF for totoaba. Reasoning for why the Standing Committee should deny or delay the registration is presented.
Recommendations to address the illegal fishing of totoaba and trafficking of swim bladders in order to protect the vaquita, of which there are fewer than ten animals remaining on the planet. Presented at the 74th Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Ahead of the 74th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), EIA has prepared comments and recommendations on agenda items relating to Elephants, Pangolins, Tigers and other Asian Big Cats, Rhinos, Totoaba, Saiga, enforcement and compliance matters.
The illegal trade in totoaba fish maws is rapidly driving the vaquita marina to extinction. This small rare porpoise endemic to Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California is collateral damage in the pursuit of huge profits by organised criminal networks that sell totoaba swim bladders in Asian markets, primarily China.
The vaquita porpoise is the world’s most endangered marine mammal and its existence hangs by the slenderest of threads, with fewer than 30 individuals believed to remain. Its survival depends on the immediate and permanent elimination of all gillnets from its range in the Upper Gulf of California, Mexico