| 1. |
The vaquita is one of the world’s most endangered cetaceans. Little is known about the natural history of this rare porpoise. Scientists estimate that only a few hundred of these 1.5-m (5-ft.) porpoises are alive today.
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| 2. |
Vaquita often are caught in nets set to catch other animals. This "incidental take" is the primary reason for the vaquita’s endangered status. Gulf of California fisheries include shrimp trawling and gillnet fisheries for sharks. (A gillnet is a large flat fishing net that entangles fish as it hangs in the water.) |
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| 3. |
Vaquita survival is closely tied to one gillnet fishery in particular: totoabo (Totoaba macdonaldi, a type of fish resembling the white seabass). Like the vaquita, the totoaba lives only in the upper Gulf. There have been just 65 confirmed sightings of live vaquitas ever, yet 25 to 30 drown each year in gillnets. |
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| 4. |
The vaquita is protected by both United States and Mexico laws. It was placed on Mexico’s endangered species list in 1978. The U.S. added the vaquita to its endangered species list in 1985. The vaquita is also protected by the 1972 U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. |
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| 5. |
Totoaba is itself an endangered species. Mexico banned totoaba fishing in 1975. The U.S. has banned imports of totoaba since 1977. But demand for totoaba as a food fish keeps the illegal fishery profitable. |
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| 6. |
In 1990, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) determined that the totoaba fishery is responsible for the vaquita’s endangered status. As long as illegal totoaba fishing continues, vaquitas will continue to drown in gillnets. If people continue to buy totoaba, not only will this fish become extinct, so will the vaquita. |
