Positive Developments in the Northern Sea of Cortez

This press release details some of the efforts in the Northern portion of the Sea of Cortez to reduce impacts to the critically endangered Vaquita. These tiny porpoises (less than 5 feet long) are only found in the upper Sea of Cortez and fewer than 600 remain - some estimates place the total population at slightly over 200 (vaquita.org). Efforts to protect them should have added benefits of rebuilding fisheries in the region.

Mexico Works to Protect Endangered Sea of Cortez Porpoise
Monday, December 29, 2008
Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources

During the first two years of government, President Felipe Calderón's administration assigned over $174 million pesos to promote actions to protect the vaquita porpoise, $157 million of which were allocated to conservation and technological and productive reconversion, and $25 million to actions to preserve biodiversity in the Vaquita Sanctuary.

Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) Juan Rafael Elvira Quesada explained that these resources have enabled 836 boats to stop fishing in the Protection Polygon and engage in other kinds of activities, and permitted the cancellation of 1,044 fishing permits, making 1,200 square kilometers of the Vaquita Sanctuary free of fishing and incidental capture.

These activities have been carried out in addition to the inspection and surveillance work undertaken on a permanent basis by the Naval Secretariat and the Federal Environmental Protection Bureau.

The government official added that the National Institutes of Ecology and Fishing engage in experimental work to test new, alternative forms of fishing that will not harm the vaquita and protect the environment. These include the prototype of a light drag net, a net enabling larger species to escape and traps for catching scale fish and shrimp.

As part of Semarnat's commitment to ensure the care and protection of endangered species, Elvira Quesada reported that the Acoustic Monitoring Cruise Ship recently observed a group of vaquitas on the coast of the state of Sonora, a crucial phenomenon, since there have been no records of the mammal in this part of the Upper Gulf of California for the past ten years.

The monitoring, carried out by Mexican, U.S., Canadian, English, German and Japanese experts, showed that the pod of porpoise detected is in good health and has not registered a decline in its population, estimated at 150.

He explained that the cruise ship's crew includes researchers from the Marine Mammals' Program of the National Institute of Ecology (INE); as well as specialists from the Southwest Fisheries Science Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Center (NMFS).

He said that at the request of fishermen from San Felipe, and with the help of INE personnel, discussion and analysis workshops were held in the municipalities of San Felipe, Golfo de Santa Clara, and Puerto Peñasco (all in the Upper Gulf of California), where it was agreed that fishing activities would have sustainable planning, with ecological equilibrium for a period of 50 years.

Lastly, the Semarnat director said that joint work is being carried out with the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishing and Food; the governments and universities of the state of Baja California and Sonora; the Intercultural Center of Studies of Deserts and Oceans; and Pronatura to ensure that the pledges made are shared by the three orders of government and the scientific community, in order to advance towards the conservation and recovery of the species.