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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=vaquita&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/vaquita/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on Vaquita</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/vaquita/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Mexico considers shrinking protected areas for endangered vaquita porpoise</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/mexico-considers-shrinking-protected-areas-for-endangered-vaquita-porpoise/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/mexico-considers-shrinking-protected-areas-for-endangered-vaquita-porpoise/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Feb 2026 20:57:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/10192935/Screenshot-2026-02-10-132642-768x450.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314049</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Baja California, Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fishing, Illegal Fishing, Law, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Oceans, Politics, Protected Areas, Vaquita, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials have proposed scaling back fishing regulations meant to protect a narrow stretch of ocean home to the last 10 remaining vaquitas, the world’s smallest species of porpoise. If implemented, the changes could shrink protected areas and open up vessel traffic in the northern Gulf of California, the stretch of water [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials have proposed scaling back fishing regulations meant to protect a narrow stretch of ocean home to the last 10 remaining vaquitas, the world’s smallest species of porpoise. If implemented, the changes could shrink protected areas and open up vessel traffic in the northern Gulf of California, the stretch of water between Baja California and mainland Mexico where the vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is endemic. The proposal cites scientific research and aims to satisfy local fishing communities, but conservation groups say the changes in it could lead to the porpoise’s extinction. “I don’t think we can forget that this is the most endangered marine mammal in the world,” Sarah Doleman, senior ocean campaigner for the U.K.-based NGO the Environmental Investigation Agency, told Mongabay. “With such a small population of 10 individuals, any effort to reduce the measures that are in place at the moment, and to enforce those measures fully, would be a real threat to the future of this species.” The proposal, not yet public but reviewed by Mongabay, is being developed by several government agencies, including the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT). Input on it came from fishing industry representatives and an “interinstitutional group” assembled by the government that the proposal does not identify. The vaquita measures just 1.5 meters (5 feet) in length, weighs 54 kilograms (120 pounds) and features dark circles around its eyes. Its numbers have been steadily declining from under 600 when scientists first surveyed the species in 1997, with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/mexico-considers-shrinking-protected-areas-for-endangered-vaquita-porpoise/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/mexico-considers-shrinking-protected-areas-for-endangered-vaquita-porpoise/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314049</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Concern for Mexico’s vaquita as totoaba swim bladder trafficking surges online</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/concern-for-mexicos-vaquita-as-totoaba-swim-bladder-trafficking-surges-online/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/concern-for-mexicos-vaquita-as-totoaba-swim-bladder-trafficking-surges-online/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Feb 2024 16:00:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/07162849/Screenshot-2024-02-07-102723-768x450.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=278668</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China, Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Extinction, Fishing, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Politics, Protected Areas, Research, Vaquita, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — The trafficking of valuable fish bladders found in Mexico appears to be on the rise online and on social media, and it’s having a ripple effect on other endangered species in the region. Dried swim bladders, or “maw,” of totoaba, an endangered fish found in the Gulf of California in northern Mexico, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — The trafficking of valuable fish bladders found in Mexico appears to be on the rise online and on social media, and it’s having a ripple effect on other endangered species in the region. Dried swim bladders, or “maw,” of totoaba, an endangered fish found in the Gulf of California in northern Mexico, are being increasingly trafficked on digital platforms, according to a report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an environmental NGO. The demand for totoaba has impacted other animals that get caught in the same gillnets, most notably vaquitas, the smallest porpoise in the world. “The conservation impact of ongoing illegal totoaba fishing on critically endangered vaquitas is clear,” the report said. “The species will simply not survive without the elimination of the illegal trade in totoaba.” Totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) swim bladders are a delicacy in China because of their use in traditional medicines and cosmetics, and can go for thousands of dollars per kilogram. Catching them requires using illegal gillnets that often pull up the endemic vaquita (Phocoena sinus), whose population numbers have dwindled to just 10 individuals, according to the report. In the late 1990s, the population was at 567. A dried totoaba swim bladder. (Photo courtesy of EIA) EIA’s investigation found an increase in the number of swim bladders online. Since 2020, there have been over 230 sold over the internet, the report said. The number of posts surged with the easing of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, such as China’s ban on the trade&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/concern-for-mexicos-vaquita-as-totoaba-swim-bladder-trafficking-surges-online/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/concern-for-mexicos-vaquita-as-totoaba-swim-bladder-trafficking-surges-online/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-278668</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>U.S. says Mexico failed to uphold international treaty protecting vaquita porpoise</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/u-s-says-mexico-failed-to-uphold-international-treaty-protecting-vaquita-porpoise/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/u-s-says-mexico-failed-to-uphold-international-treaty-protecting-vaquita-porpoise/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 May 2023 20:25:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maxradwin]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/30201733/Vaquita-c-IUCN-CSG-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269219</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fishing, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Overfishing, Politics, Vaquita, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — The U.S. has opened up the possibility of imposing a trade embargo on Mexico due to its failure to stop illegal fishing in the Gulf of California, where the endemic vaquita has been pushed to the brink of extinction. The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), famous for being the world’s smallest porpoise, has dwindled [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — The U.S. has opened up the possibility of imposing a trade embargo on Mexico due to its failure to stop illegal fishing in the Gulf of California, where the endemic vaquita has been pushed to the brink of extinction. The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), famous for being the world’s smallest porpoise, has dwindled to around just 10 specimens in recent years, the result of getting caught in gillnets targeting totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is treasured on the Chinese black market. “Despite international protections and commitments, the government of Mexico has failed to stem the illegal harvest and commercial export of totoaba,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in a May 26 notification letter to congress. “This illicit trade has direct negative impacts on the survival of the vaquita.” Both the vaquita and totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) are protected by Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibits the commercial trade of species threatened with extinction. There are only about 10 vaquitas left in the Gulf of California. (Photo courtesy of NOAA) Because illegal fishing and trade has continued, Haaland said Mexico has diminished the “effectiveness” of CITES, which could require the US to take action as a party member to the treaty. Although her letter didn’t explicitly mention an embargo, U.S. law allows for an embargo on wildlife trade when a country isn’t doing enough to combat illegal activity. President Joe Biden has 60&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/u-s-says-mexico-failed-to-uphold-international-treaty-protecting-vaquita-porpoise/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/u-s-says-mexico-failed-to-uphold-international-treaty-protecting-vaquita-porpoise/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-269219</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Experts fear end of vaquitas after green light for export of captive-bred totoaba fish</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/experts-fear-end-of-vaquitas-after-green-light-for-export-of-captive-bred-totoaba-fish/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/experts-fear-end-of-vaquitas-after-green-light-for-export-of-captive-bred-totoaba-fish/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jun 2022 20:35:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Michelle Carrere]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/03150303/1-A-dead-vaquita-floats-in-the-ocean-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256800</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, Trade, Vaquita, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[International wildlife trade regulator CITES recently decided to allow an aquaculture company in Mexico to export captive-raised totoabas, a large fish categorized as being in danger of extinction under Mexican law. To hear an audio reading of this article, listen here: The fishing and international trade of the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) have been prohibited for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[International wildlife trade regulator CITES recently decided to allow an aquaculture company in Mexico to export captive-raised totoabas, a large fish categorized as being in danger of extinction under Mexican law. To hear an audio reading of this article, listen here: The fishing and international trade of the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) have been prohibited for more than 40 years, yet illegal fishing for it persists in the Upper Gulf of California. The swim bladders of totoabas are coveted in Asian markets, where they fetch exorbitant prices because of their value as status symbols and their supposed medicinal properties. This illegal activity has not only harmed wild totoaba populations, but it has also pushed vaquita porpoises (Phocoena sinus) to the brink of extinction because they become trapped in fishing nets set for totoabas. With an estimated eight individuals left on the planet, the vaquita is considered the most threatened marine mammal in the world. Some experts fear the March 10 decision by the CITES Standing Committee to allow Earth Ocean Farms to sell totoabas internationally will increase demand for this species, further encouraging illegal fishing and intensifying pressure on the vaquita. Vaquitas become trapped in nets set that target totoabas. Image courtesy of NOAA. The risks of legalizing trade The argument for allowing the international trade in captive-bred totoabas rests on CITES guidelines that say “the second generation raised in captivity of an endangered species can be traded,” according to Alejandro Olivera, a senior scientist and Mexico representative at the Arizona-based&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/experts-fear-end-of-vaquitas-after-green-light-for-export-of-captive-bred-totoaba-fish/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/experts-fear-end-of-vaquitas-after-green-light-for-export-of-captive-bred-totoaba-fish/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256800</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Mismanaged to death’: Mexico opens up sole vaquita habitat to fishing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/mismanaged-to-death-mexico-opens-up-sole-vaquita-habitat-to-fishing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/mismanaged-to-death-mexico-opens-up-sole-vaquita-habitat-to-fishing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2021 12:00:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/02/16205656/030819_EH_SeaShepherd_VaquitaSightingSharpie-3719-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=244912</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Charismatic Animals, Critically Endangered Species, Cryptic Species, Ecosystems, Extinction, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Fishing, International Trade, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Overfishing, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Trade, trafficking, Vaquita, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Mexican government will no longer protect the habitat of the critically endangered vaquita in the Upper Gulf of California, but has opened the area up to fishing, according to a news report. It’s estimated that there are only about nine vaquitas left in the world. The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a bathtub-sized porpoise endemic to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Mexican government will no longer protect the habitat of the critically endangered vaquita in the Upper Gulf of California, but has opened the area up to fishing, according to a news report. It’s estimated that there are only about nine vaquitas left in the world. The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a bathtub-sized porpoise endemic to the Sea of Cortez in Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California, has experienced a sharp population decline in the two past two decades, mainly due to illegal gillnet fishing for the critically endangered totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi). In 2017, the Mexican government established a “no tolerance” zone to protect the vaquita from illegal fishing, and even expanded the area last September. But now the government has given fishers open access to the refuge, the only enforcement being a  “sliding scale of sanctions if more than 60 boats are repeatedly seen in the area,” according to Mexico News Daily. “I fear this might be the death knell for the vaquita, as the plan that has been proposed by Mexico will convert what should be a straightforward ‘no go’ zone into a complex enforcement area with varying levels of monitoring and deterrence depending on the amount of illegal fishing taking place in the area,” Kate O’Connell, marine consultant at the Washington, D.C.-based Animal Welfare Institute, told Mongabay. “The vaquita are being mismanaged to death.” Two vaquitas surfacing for air in the Sea of Cortez. Image by NOAA. O’Connell said gillnet fishing is technically still banned in the Upper Gulf&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/mismanaged-to-death-mexico-opens-up-sole-vaquita-habitat-to-fishing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/mismanaged-to-death-mexico-opens-up-sole-vaquita-habitat-to-fishing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-244912</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In the fight to save the vaquita, conservationists take on cartels</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/in-the-fight-to-save-the-vaquita-conservationists-take-on-cartels/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/in-the-fight-to-save-the-vaquita-conservationists-take-on-cartels/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Feb 2021 21:31:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/02/16205703/191017_vaquitas-infront-of-fishing-skiff_%C2%A9_CONANP-MuseoDeLaBallena-SeaShepherd_crop_5P9A1316-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=239654</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Fishing, Gillnets, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Natural Resources, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, trafficking, Vaquita, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From above, the Sea of Cortez is a picture of serenity: turquoise waters lapping against rose-tinted bluffs and soft sand beaches. But down below, beneath the water’s surface, a war is raging. Each year, typically between late November and May, huge gillnets — some stretching more than 600 meters (2,000 feet), or the length of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From above, the Sea of Cortez is a picture of serenity: turquoise waters lapping against rose-tinted bluffs and soft sand beaches. But down below, beneath the water’s surface, a war is raging. Each year, typically between late November and May, huge gillnets — some stretching more than 600 meters (2,000 feet), or the length of five and a half football fields — are dropped into the waters to catch totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi). This critically endangered species is illegally fished for its prized swim bladders, which can fetch prices between $20,000 and $80,000 per kilo in China. While gillnets are highly effective at catching totoaba, they also catch just about everything else, including another critically endangered species: the vaquita (Phocoena sinus). The vaquita is a bathtub-sized porpoise with silvery-gray skin and panda-like eyes that lives exclusively in a small section of the northern Gulf of California, close to the town of San Felipe in Baja California, Mexico. Right now, experts say there may only be about nine vaquitas left, despite the Mexican government spending more than $100 million to aid its recovery. “The vaquita issue, in my opinion, is an example of epic, epic failure of conservation,” Andrea Crosta, executive director of Earth League International (ELI), an NGO that investigates wildlife crime, told Mongabay in an interview. “I don&#8217;t think rhinos and elephants combined have $100 million &#8230; and yet the vaquitas went from a few hundred individuals to &#8230; nobody knows how many now. Probably 12, 10, maybe less.” But&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/in-the-fight-to-save-the-vaquita-conservationists-take-on-cartels/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/in-the-fight-to-save-the-vaquita-conservationists-take-on-cartels/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-239654</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>COVID-19 forces Sea Shepherd to suspend patrols to protect last vaquitas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/covid-19-forces-sea-shepherd-to-suspend-patrols-to-protect-last-vaquitas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/covid-19-forces-sea-shepherd-to-suspend-patrols-to-protect-last-vaquitas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Apr 2020 14:23:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/04/10140911/PhotoCredit_SeaShepherd_12-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=228876</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, and Vaquita]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Marine conservation group Sea Shepherd has made the difficult decision to suspend its campaign to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise in Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California. “We haven’t had much choice because we&#8217;re dependent upon getting fuel from the Mexican government to do the patrols, and we weren&#8217;t able to get the fuel,” Captain [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Marine conservation group Sea Shepherd has made the difficult decision to suspend its campaign to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise in Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California. “We haven’t had much choice because we&#8217;re dependent upon getting fuel from the Mexican government to do the patrols, and we weren&#8217;t able to get the fuel,” Captain Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, told Mongabay. “We have to send the vessels back to Mazatlán, and once we get there, of course, then we&#8217;re not allowed to leave because of the [COVID-19] quarantine.” Two of the Sea Shepherd ship that patrol the vaquita refuge. Image by Sea Shepherd. Vaquitas (Phocoena sinus), which are endemic to the Sea of Cortez in the Upper Gulf of California, are on the brink of extinction, although there are different estimates of how many are left. A recent study calculated there to be fewer than 19 vaquitas left as of the summer of 2018. Another report, conducted by the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA), suggested only about 10 individuals remain, although it also stated that there’s a 95 percent chance that 6 to 22 individuals continue to exist. The biggest threat to the vaquitas is the illegal fishing of totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), which, like the vaquita, is classified as a critically endangered species by the IUCN. The totoaba’s swim bladder is believed to have special medicinal qualities in traditional Asian medicine, despite there being no scientific evidence to support this. The bladders, which are&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/covid-19-forces-sea-shepherd-to-suspend-patrols-to-protect-last-vaquitas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/covid-19-forces-sea-shepherd-to-suspend-patrols-to-protect-last-vaquitas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-228876</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nearly extinct vaquita mothers with calves spotted in recent expeditions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/vaquita-mothers-calves-spotted-expeditions-endangered-mexico/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/vaquita-mothers-calves-spotted-expeditions-endangered-mexico/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Nov 2019 11:39:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/10/29050458/Vaquita4_Olson_NOAA-1200x590-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=224833</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, China, Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Gillnets, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Illegal Fishing, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Marine Protected Areas, Natural Resources, Oceans, Overexploitation, Overfishing, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Medicine, Vaquita, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There may be a glimmer of hope for the extremely rare vaquita porpoise, the world’s smallest cetacean, a group that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. The vaquita is also the most threatened marine mammal in the world, nearly extinct because of entanglement in fishing nets. The latest expeditions to survey the mammal in the northern [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There may be a glimmer of hope for the extremely rare vaquita porpoise, the world’s smallest cetacean, a group that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. The vaquita is also the most threatened marine mammal in the world, nearly extinct because of entanglement in fishing nets. The latest expeditions to survey the mammal in the northern Gulf of California, Mexico, have yielded sightings of both vaquita mothers and calves. This, researchers say, indicates that the small porpoises are still reproducing despite threats. “So the good news is they are producing calves,” Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, who leads marine mammal research at Mexico’s National Commission on Protected Areas (CONANP), told the San Diego Union Tribune. “And we have the survivors who have been able to survive all these years, and it’s important to protect them, because the survival of vaquita depends on these individuals we have now.” During the summer of 2018, fewer than 19 vaquitas (Phocoena sinus) were estimated to survive in the Gulf of California, according to a recent study. This year, in a survey carried out between August and September, researchers spotted what they say are likely six distinct individual vaquitas. During a subsequent expedition in October, researchers say that they spotted vaquitas several times, including six different vaquitas in two groups. They also sighted three pairs of mothers and calves, said Rojas-Bracho. In 2017 and 2018, too, the researchers had observed vaquita mothers and babies. In fact, they saw the same female with two separate calves in 2017 and 2018,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/vaquita-mothers-calves-spotted-expeditions-endangered-mexico/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/11/vaquita-mothers-calves-spotted-expeditions-endangered-mexico/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-224833</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vaquita habitat now listed as ‘World Heritage in Danger’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/vaquita-habitat-now-listed-as-world-heritage-in-danger/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/vaquita-habitat-now-listed-as-world-heritage-in-danger/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jul 2019 10:19:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/04/01215326/Vaquita4_Olson_NOAA-520x256.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=220301</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Environment, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Vaquita, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has decided to list the Sea of Cortez and its islands in Mexico’s Gulf of California, the only place where the critically endangered vaquita is known to occur, on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The story of the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), the smallest and the most threatened species [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has decided to list the Sea of Cortez and its islands in Mexico’s Gulf of California, the only place where the critically endangered vaquita is known to occur, on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The story of the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), the smallest and the most threatened species of porpoise, is one of tragedy. The porpoise’s numbers have dropped drastically, from around 300 in the mid-2000s to just 10 individuals, according to the latest estimate, mostly as a result of getting entangled in gillnets meant to catch the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi). The totoaba, too, is critically endangered and found only in the Gulf of California. It’s prized for its swim bladders in China, and demand for the delicacy has given rise to totoaba poaching using gillnets and a massive illegal trade in Mexico. In its report, the World Heritage Committee welcomed Mexico’s efforts to protect the vaquita by taking steps such as creating a refuge area for the species, promoting alternative fishing gear, and stepping up surveillance in the upper Gulf of California. “Unfortunately, these efforts appear not to have significantly reduced the pressures on the property from illegal fishing of totoaba, nor prevented the further decline of the vaquita population,” the report notes. The few remaining vaquitas live a very small area, most of which lies within the Vaquita Refuge, the report says, where illegal fishing for totoaba continues to occur at high levels. “It is an alarming indicator of the severity&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/vaquita-habitat-now-listed-as-world-heritage-in-danger/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/vaquita-habitat-now-listed-as-world-heritage-in-danger/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-220301</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chinese nationals arrested in US after smuggling totoaba swim bladders worth $3.7 million from Mexico</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/chinese-nationals-arrested-in-us-after-smuggling-totoaba-swim-bladders-worth-3-7-million-from-mexico/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/chinese-nationals-arrested-in-us-after-smuggling-totoaba-swim-bladders-worth-3-7-million-from-mexico/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jun 2019 13:03:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/06/21125931/totoaba-maw_1210px-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=219719</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fish, Fishing, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Vaquita, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[According to a report this week by Quartz, two Chinese nationals were arrested last month in the state of California with $3.7-million-worth of totoaba swim bladders that they had smuggled from Mexico. Quartz’s Justin Rohrlich writes that a sheriff’s deputy in Orange County, California initially pulled the two men, Yikang Liang and Haoyu Huang, over [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[According to a report this week by Quartz, two Chinese nationals were arrested last month in the state of California with $3.7-million-worth of totoaba swim bladders that they had smuggled from Mexico. Quartz’s Justin Rohrlich writes that a sheriff’s deputy in Orange County, California initially pulled the two men, Yikang Liang and Haoyu Huang, over for speeding, but quickly came to suspect they might be up to something more serious: The men said they had lived in Mexico for years, but neither could answer questions in basic Spanish. And the three large boxes in the back of the van seemed inconsistent with the story they were telling. Liang and Huang had entered the United States from Mexico in separate vehicles two days earlier, 17 minutes apart. The deputy began to suspect they might be drug smugglers. He called for backup, then had his police dog sniff around. The boxes did not contain drugs, of course. They were packed with 132 dried totoaba swim bladders, which can fetch anywhere from $20,000 to $80,000 per kilogram and has come to be known as “aquatic cocaine.” The swim bladders being transported by Liang and Huang weighed a little over 100 pounds, meaning they could have been sold for somewhere between $940,000 and $3.76 million. Despite having no proven health benefits, totoaba swim bladders or “maws” are highly prized by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. But the gillnets used to catch totoaba in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, also known as the Upper Gulf of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/chinese-nationals-arrested-in-us-after-smuggling-totoaba-swim-bladders-worth-3-7-million-from-mexico/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/chinese-nationals-arrested-in-us-after-smuggling-totoaba-swim-bladders-worth-3-7-million-from-mexico/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-219719</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Suspected totoaba poachers shot by authorities in Mexico&#8217;s Sea of Cortez</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/suspected-totoaba-poachers-shot-by-authorities-in-mexicos-sea-of-cortez/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/suspected-totoaba-poachers-shot-by-authorities-in-mexicos-sea-of-cortez/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Mar 2019 14:07:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/11/06155457/0529_RKessler_Vaquita_Boat2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=216994</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Marine, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Poaching, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Vaquita, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Three suspected totoaba poachers were reportedly shot yesterday by Mexican marines following a confrontation over illegal gillnets that had been confiscated. According to local news outlet Fronteras, the governor of the Mexican state of Baja California, Francisco Vega, has confirmed that three people were injured in a shootout between suspected poachers and Mexican marines early [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Three suspected totoaba poachers were reportedly shot yesterday by Mexican marines following a confrontation over illegal gillnets that had been confiscated. According to local news outlet Fronteras, the governor of the Mexican state of Baja California, Francisco Vega, has confirmed that three people were injured in a shootout between suspected poachers and Mexican marines early Thursday morning in San Felipe, a small fishing town on the coast of the Sea of Cortez. Fronteras reports that one of the suspected poachers, Enrique García Sandez, a 37-year-old fisherman, was transported to a hospital in Mexicali with serious injuries. “Videos of the confrontation shared on social media Thursday show García Sandez bleeding in a truck bed with marines nearby,” according to Fronteras. “Other fishermen are then seen chasing the Mexican marines as they drove away. Protesters gathered outside the marine&#8217;s station in San Felipe to demand justice for the shooting. Some threw projectiles and set a truck on fire.” Another local news outlet, La Voz de la Frontera, reports that García Sandez was shot three times, in the scalp, right leg, and left forearm. A 17-year-old boy was also reported to be among the injured and was taken to a clinic in San Felipe, while a woman whose stomach was grazed by a bullet did not require hospitalization. Gillnets are a piece of fishing tackle that have been banned in the Sea of Cortez because vaquita, a small porpoise considered the most endangered mammal on the planet, become entangled in them and drown.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/suspected-totoaba-poachers-shot-by-authorities-in-mexicos-sea-of-cortez/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-216994</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vaquita still doomed without further disruption of totoaba cartels (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/vaquita-still-doomed-without-further-disruption-of-totoaba-cartels-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/vaquita-still-doomed-without-further-disruption-of-totoaba-cartels-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Feb 2019 12:46:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andrea Crosta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/02/28123033/Totoaba_in_net-1-768x508.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=215966</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, China, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Commentary, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Extinction, Fishing, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Poaching, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Vaquita, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[My organization, the Elephant Action League (EAL), spent 14 months investigating and infiltrating the illicit totoaba swim bladder supply chain, from Baja California in Mexico to Southern China. We released a public report on what we called Operation Fake Gold in July 2018. Since then, we have continued to submit intelligence to Mexican, U.S., and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[My organization, the Elephant Action League (EAL), spent 14 months investigating and infiltrating the illicit totoaba swim bladder supply chain, from Baja California in Mexico to Southern China. We released a public report on what we called Operation Fake Gold in July 2018. Since then, we have continued to submit intelligence to Mexican, U.S., and Chinese authorities in order to facilitate disruption of the totoaba supply chain. As a result, further review of the situation surrounding the totoaba trade and its effect on the extinction of the vaquita is warranted. According to various sources in the Sea of Cortez, the price of raw totoaba swim bladder in Baja California is currently about $2,500 per bladder. This is down from highs of $5,000 to $8,000 per bladder in past years. Although this is a positive and promising development, a development that needs to continue and be supported, it is relatively unnoticed and undervalued by the media, other NGOs, and government agencies currently trying to save the vaquita. A reduction in profit for the Totoaba Cartels is an important key to ending totoaba poaching in the Sea of Cortez. A dead vaquita. Photo Credit: Elephant Action League. More importantly, according to our sources on the ground in Baja California, recent arrests of totoaba traffickers in China and pressure on the Chinese traders in Mexico are beginning to have an effect on the supply chain. Illegal fishermen in Baja have started complaining about a lack of income from the trade. The fishermen claim&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/vaquita-still-doomed-without-further-disruption-of-totoaba-cartels-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-215966</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>China seizes totoaba swim bladders worth $26 million, arrests 16</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/china-seizes-totoaba-swim-bladders-worth-26-million-arrests-16/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/china-seizes-totoaba-swim-bladders-worth-26-million-arrests-16/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Dec 2018 02:58:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/06/08143807/vaquita-noaa.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=214160</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, and East Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, Marine, Marine Animals, Oceans, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Vaquita, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Chinese customs officials have confiscated 444 kilograms (980 pounds) of swim bladders harvested from totoaba, a critically endangered fish, estimated to be worth about $26 million. The totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) is a large marine fish that lives only in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Its dried swim bladders, also called maws, have been dubbed “aquatic cocaine” [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Chinese customs officials have confiscated 444 kilograms (980 pounds) of swim bladders harvested from totoaba, a critically endangered fish, estimated to be worth about $26 million. The totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) is a large marine fish that lives only in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Its dried swim bladders, also called maws, have been dubbed “aquatic cocaine” because of the high prices they fetch in mainland China and Hong Kong, with large maws reportedly earning up to $47,000 in local black markets, according to the investigative NGO Elephant Action League (EAL). Apart from the seizures, the latest Chinese undercover operation, named “SY608,” which involved several raids carried out across cities in Guangdong and Guangxi, also led to the arrest of 16 people. These individuals are part of one of the main totoaba trafficking syndicates, according to conservation group WildAid. “Though the investigation is still ongoing, preliminary results show the syndicate would purchase the totoaba swim bladders in Mexico then transport them through multiple transit points using suitcases before entering [China] to be sold illegally,” WildAid said in the statement. Mexico banned totoaba fishery in 1975 after totoaba catches declined drastically. But illegal fishing continues because of the high demand for totoaba swim bladders in China, where it is incorrectly believed to treat fertility and circulatory problems. In April this year, Mexican authorities arrested two Chinese nationals who were attempting to smuggle hundreds of dried totoaba swim bladders in suitcases. The illegal totoaba market has spelled doom for the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), the world’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/china-seizes-totoaba-swim-bladders-worth-26-million-arrests-16/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-214160</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Latam Eco Review: Whale attacks, palm oil woes, and hope for vaquitas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/latam-eco-review-whale-attacks-palm-oil-woes-and-hope-for-vaquitas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/latam-eco-review-whale-attacks-palm-oil-woes-and-hope-for-vaquitas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Dec 2018 11:53:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/12/06175016/PHOTO-humpback-whale-and-calf-012016-NOAA-1120x534-LANDSCAPE_0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=213178</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, and Peru]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Critically Endangered Species, Extinction, Illegal Logging, Illegal Mining, Illegal Trade, Palm Oil, Pollinators, Rainforests, Vaquita, Whales, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Peruvian palm oil, orca attacks on humpback whales, and mining in an Amazon national park are among the recent top stories from Mongabay Latam, our Spanish-language service. Orcas attack young humpbacks migrating north  For 30 years, Juan Capella and five other researchers analyzed thousands of photos of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) off Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Peruvian palm oil, orca attacks on humpback whales, and mining in an Amazon national park are among the recent top stories from Mongabay Latam, our Spanish-language service. Orcas attack young humpbacks migrating north  For 30 years, Juan Capella and five other researchers analyzed thousands of photos of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) off Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and Antarctica. They looked for things like rake marks on the whales’ tails — signs that they had been attacked by orcas (Orcinus orca). Since young humpback whales are less skilled at swimming in the deep, they are easy orca prey; but human activity is still the main cause of humpback whale deaths. The scarred tail of a humpback whale. Image by Juan Capella. Peruvian palm oil company said to have illegally cleared forest Farmers and a local NGO in Peru’s Amazon say a palm oil company illegally cut 27 percent of a rainforest tract before the project was approved. Palmas del Huallaga recently acquired almost 1,900 hectares (4,700 acres) in San Martín province. Without integrated conservation planning in the Amazon, plantations are creating islands of ecosystems no longer capable of providing environmental services. Deforestation on Palmas del Huallaga’s land. Image by Karen de la Torre. Palm plantations in Colombia killing native plants and pollinators The boom in oil palm cultivation in western Colombia has introduced diseases and infestations to the area that are harming native plants. Researchers found that chemicals deemed necessary for the cultivation of oil palms are also affecting pollinators of banana&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/latam-eco-review-whale-attacks-palm-oil-woes-and-hope-for-vaquitas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/latam-eco-review-whale-attacks-palm-oil-woes-and-hope-for-vaquitas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-213178</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Investigation reveals illegal trade cartels decimating vaquita porpoises</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/investigation-reveals-illegal-trade-cartels-decimating-vaquita-porpoises/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/investigation-reveals-illegal-trade-cartels-decimating-vaquita-porpoises/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2018 15:29:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/07/09152056/Dead-vaquita-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=208134</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fish, Fisheries, Gillnets, Illegal Fishing, Interviews, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Overfishing, Vaquita, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new investigation sheds light on an illegal trade that endangers the world’s smallest and most endangered cetacean species, the vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus). The report released July 7 by the wildlife crime investigation organization Elephant Action League (EAL) details what its investigators unearthed about cartels trading illegally in the totoaba fish&#8217;s swim bladders. Vaquitas are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new investigation sheds light on an illegal trade that endangers the world’s smallest and most endangered cetacean species, the vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus). The report released July 7 by the wildlife crime investigation organization Elephant Action League (EAL) details what its investigators unearthed about cartels trading illegally in the totoaba fish&#8217;s swim bladders. Vaquitas are a small porpoise found only in Mexico&#8217;s Gulf of California. Official estimates recently placed the population at 30 or less individuals, but advocacy groups maintained in early March of this year that there may be 12 or fewer left. Fishermen with an illegal haul of totoaba. Image courtesy of Elephant Action League. The animals are in great danger because they&#8217;re often caught in nets meant for totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), a large fish that is also endemic to this body of water. The swim bladders, called maws, are are used in traditional medicine and can fetch thousands of dollars per kilogram in Chinese markets: Maws are now more valuable than gold, and their trade is illegal, and shutting this trade down is seen as the only way to save the world&#8217;s remaining vaquitas. Through its &#8220;Operation Fake Gold,&#8221; EAL says it has identified  “totoaba cartels” that specialize in the poaching and trafficking of totoaba swim bladders out of Mexico. The supply chain starts in the fishing villages of San Felipe and Santa Clara where the totoaba are caught and the maws extracted. Maws are then smuggled out of the country by operations in cities like Tijuana and Mexicali. This is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/investigation-reveals-illegal-trade-cartels-decimating-vaquita-porpoises/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/investigation-reveals-illegal-trade-cartels-decimating-vaquita-porpoises/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-208134</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>And then there were 12: Why don’t we hear about extinction until it’s too late? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/and-then-there-were-12-why-dont-we-hear-about-extinction-until-its-too-late-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/and-then-there-were-12-why-dont-we-hear-about-extinction-until-its-too-late-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jul 2018 12:25:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sam Turvey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/07/06031644/Vaquita6_Olson_NOAA-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=208093</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Baiji, Biodiversity, Bycatch, Commentary, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Dolphins, Endangered Species, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Extinction, Fishing, Gibbons, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Hunting, Mammals, Media, Natural Resources, Northern White Rhino, Oceans, Overfishing, Poaching, Primates, Rhinos, Rivers, Species Discovery, Sumatran Rhino, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Medicine, Vaquita, White Rhino, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Everyone loves a wildlife story. Watching the latest blue-chip natural history series complete with hushed narration about nature’s grandeur — or reading the latest online science about evolution or quirky behavior in our favorite wild animals — can offer respite from the increasingly grim updates on world politics or social issues that bombard us. Environmental [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Everyone loves a wildlife story. Watching the latest blue-chip natural history series complete with hushed narration about nature’s grandeur — or reading the latest online science about evolution or quirky behavior in our favorite wild animals — can offer respite from the increasingly grim updates on world politics or social issues that bombard us. Environmental stories of recent weeks have been anything but uplifting, however. Recently, the death of Sudan, the world’s last male northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), was widely reported. Sudan’s death leaves only two living northern white rhinos. Although frozen sperm offers some hope that Sudan may yet reproduce post-mortem, and other white rhinos still survive in southern Africa, his death brings this unique subspecies one step closer to extinction. The northern white rhino is down to just two individuals. Image by Lengai101 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0). Another recent story has even higher stakes: the fate of the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a tiny porpoise species unique to Mexico’s Gulf of California. Attempts have been made to ban gillnet fishing, which entangles and drowns vaquitas. However, Chinese demand for the swim bladder of totoaba fish — which sells for such high prices that it’s dubbed “aquatic cocaine,” despite having no recognized medical benefits — has led to rampant illegal fishing in the Gulf of California, which is yet to be eliminated. The impact on the vaquita has been catastrophic. A high-stakes conservation effort last autumn, aimed at capturing vaquitas to set up a breeding population,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/and-then-there-were-12-why-dont-we-hear-about-extinction-until-its-too-late-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/and-then-there-were-12-why-dont-we-hear-about-extinction-until-its-too-late-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-208093</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>More than 800 totoaba swim bladders confiscated by Mexican authorities in smuggling busts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/more-than-800-totoaba-swim-bladders-confiscated-by-mexican-authorities-in-smuggling-busts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/more-than-800-totoaba-swim-bladders-confiscated-by-mexican-authorities-in-smuggling-busts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 May 2018 09:28:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/05/01091332/TOTOABA_T1AICM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=206331</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, China, Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Bycatch, Cetaceans, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Illegal Fishing, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Natural Resources, NGOs, Oceans, Overfishing, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Medicine, Vaquita, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a span of five days in late April, Mexican police arrested two men attempting to take hundreds of dried swim bladders, harvested from a critically endangered species of fish, out of the country, according to reporting by the Mexico News Daily. On April 22, officials caught a Chinese citizen at the Mexico City International [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a span of five days in late April, Mexican police arrested two men attempting to take hundreds of dried swim bladders, harvested from a critically endangered species of fish, out of the country, according to reporting by the Mexico News Daily. On April 22, officials caught a Chinese citizen at the Mexico City International Airport with 416 swim bladders, or maws — 355 of which came from the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), a large fish that lives only in the Gulf of California. Three days later, authorities discovered 417 totoaba maws in two suitcases of another Chinese national who was on his way to Guangzhou in southern China via Tokyo, the office of Mexico’s attorney general said in a statement. NOAA Fisheries picture from 1992 showing a vaquita captured as bycatch (bottom) along with a totoaba (top) in Sonora, Mexico. Image by Omar Vidal (Public domain). Buyers in China prize the swim bladders for their use in traditional medicine, leading to a recent surge in demand for totoaba. The fishery has also exacted a devastating toll on the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a small porpoise endemic to the Gulf of California. Entanglement in nets has driven the population down to a handful of individuals, and it’s considered the world’s most endangered cetacean. Andrea Crosta, who directs the investigative NGO Elephant Action League (EAL), recently told Mongabay that they believe that only 12 vaquita still live in the wild. Crosta was not optimistic about efforts to protect either species. “The central government of Mexico recently&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/more-than-800-totoaba-swim-bladders-confiscated-by-mexican-authorities-in-smuggling-busts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/more-than-800-totoaba-swim-bladders-confiscated-by-mexican-authorities-in-smuggling-busts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-206331</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>NOAA publishes global list of fisheries and their risks to marine mammals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/noaa-publishes-global-list-of-fisheries-and-their-risks-to-marine-mammals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/noaa-publishes-global-list-of-fisheries-and-their-risks-to-marine-mammals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Apr 2018 12:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/04/02054534/1280_133uU5fC4AKj-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=205416</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Bycatch, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fishing, Law, Mammals, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Vaquita, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[CBO2017]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has published the first list of foreign fisheries, detailing the risks that commercial fishing around the world pose to marine mammals. “The [List of Foreign Fisheries] is an important milestone because it provides the global community a view into the marine mammal bycatch levels of commercially relevant [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has published the first list of foreign fisheries, detailing the risks that commercial fishing around the world pose to marine mammals. “The [List of Foreign Fisheries] is an important milestone because it provides the global community a view into the marine mammal bycatch levels of commercially relevant fisheries,” according to a statement published on the NOAA Fisheries website. “In addition, it offers us a better understanding of the impacts of marine mammal bycatch, an improvement of tools and scientific approaches to mitigating those impacts, and establishes a new level of international cooperation in achieving these objectives,” the statement says. North Atlantic right whale mother and calf. Photo in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. The register is a step toward meeting specific requirements in the Marine Mammal Protection Act on the sources of fish imported into the U.S. It includes nearly 4,000 fisheries across some 135 countries. These fisheries have until 2022 to demonstrate that the methods they use to catch fish, as well as other marine animals such as coral, crabs, lobsters and shellfish, either aren’t much of a danger to marine mammals, or they employ comparable methods and mitigation measures to similar operations in the United States. Fishing nets can exact a high toll on animals that fishers don’t intend to catch. Nets themselves can trap dolphins, porpoises, seals and sea lions as bycatch. In Mexico, a fishery targeting the totoaba for its swim bladders that fetch high prices in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/noaa-publishes-global-list-of-fisheries-and-their-risks-to-marine-mammals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/noaa-publishes-global-list-of-fisheries-and-their-risks-to-marine-mammals/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-205416</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Only 12 vaquita porpoises remain, watchdog group reports</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/only-12-vaquita-porpoises-remain-watchdog-groups-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/only-12-vaquita-porpoises-remain-watchdog-groups-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Mar 2018 12:01:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/06/08065026/Credit_-Greenpeace_-Marcelo-Otero-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=204454</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China, Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fish, Fisheries, Gillnets, Illegal Fishing, Interviews, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Overfishing, Vaquita, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita reported in 2017 that there were just 30 vaquita left in the Upper Gulf of California, the species’ only known habitat. The primary cause of death for this small porpoise (Phocoena sinus) is becoming entangled in gillnets used to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladders are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita reported in 2017 that there were just 30 vaquita left in the Upper Gulf of California, the species’ only known habitat. The primary cause of death for this small porpoise (Phocoena sinus) is becoming entangled in gillnets used to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladders are in high demand and are trafficked illegally, especially to China. Mongabay contacted Andrea Crosta of the international wildlife trade watchdog group Elephant Action League  just before his return to Mexico to hear what he found during his last visit in February 2018. Crosta answered Mongabay&#8217;s questions via email. AN INTERVIEW WITH ANDREA CROSTA &nbsp; Mongabay: We&#8217;ve been tracking the decline of vaquitas for years and have heard that the “30 left” number reported in 2017 might be a high estimate, what did you learn from your recent trip about their numbers? Andrea Crosta: My current sources confirmed to me that we are now talking about a dozen vaquitas left in the Sea of Cortez. The scientists are using sonic buoys to count them, through echolocation, and numbers are now really low. Mongabay: Who you were sailing with to gather this information? Andrea Crosta: This information comes from multiple sources, not another organization. Within our field investigation, my team and I were also on board a vessel of Sea Shepherd for a couple of days, and they heard similar numbers. Andrea Crosta (left) aboard Sea Shepherd vessel, February 2018. Photo courtesy of Elephant Action League. Mongabay: Is there&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/only-12-vaquita-porpoises-remain-watchdog-groups-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/only-12-vaquita-porpoises-remain-watchdog-groups-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-204454</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Breeding-age female vaquita dies after being taken into captivity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/breeding-age-female-vaquita-dies-after-being-taken-into-captivity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/breeding-age-female-vaquita-dies-after-being-taken-into-captivity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2017 16:02:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/11/06155457/0529_RKessler_Vaquita_Boat2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=200837</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America and Mexico]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Gillnets, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Vaquita, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last month, the government of Mexico launched a last-ditch effort to save the Critically Endangered vaquita, a small porpoise known to reside only in the Gulf of California. A team of marine mammal experts assembled by the Mexican government created a project called Vaquita Conservation, Protection and Recovery (VaquitaCPR) that aims to capture the remaining [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Last month, the government of Mexico launched a last-ditch effort to save the Critically Endangered vaquita, a small porpoise known to reside only in the Gulf of California. A team of marine mammal experts assembled by the Mexican government created a project called Vaquita Conservation, Protection and Recovery (VaquitaCPR) that aims to capture the remaining 30 vaquitas (Phocoena sinus) and keep them safe in specially built floating “sea pens” until the species’ survival is no longer threatened by the illegal trade and fishing activities that have driven them to the brink of extinction. Late last month, scientists with VaquitaCPR took the first of the marine mammals into captivity. Though the 6-month-old calf became so stressed by its capture that the team quickly chose to release it back into the wild, Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, a scientist with the Mexican government who heads the VaquitaCPR program, suggested that the fact that they were able to successfully find and capture a vaquita at all was an encouraging sign. This past weekend, however, it was announced that another vaquita — a breeding-age female — was taken into captivity and subsequently died. “A mature female vaquita, not pregnant or lactating, had been caught and transported successfully late in the afternoon on Saturday in the Northern Gulf of California and was taken to a specially-modified floating sea pen known as ElNido, or The Nest,” according to a statement from VaquitaCPR. “From the moment of capture, the vaquita was under constant care and observation for its health and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/breeding-age-female-vaquita-dies-after-being-taken-into-captivity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/breeding-age-female-vaquita-dies-after-being-taken-into-captivity/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-200837</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Recent report: Totoaba trafficking a conservation and security problem</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/recent-report-totoaba-trafficking-a-conservation-and-security-problem/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/recent-report-totoaba-trafficking-a-conservation-and-security-problem/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2017 11:42:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/11/06111441/GP0STP8QG-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=200810</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fish, Fisheries, Gillnets, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Overfishing, Vaquita, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Samuel “El Sammy” Gallardo Castro was shot and killed on a Mexican beach in 2014, it could have been just another gangland killing of a drug dealer from the notorious Sinaloa cartel. However, local reports point to a struggle over the trade of swim bladders from the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), a critically endangered fish [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Samuel “El Sammy” Gallardo Castro was shot and killed on a Mexican beach in 2014, it could have been just another gangland killing of a drug dealer from the notorious Sinaloa cartel. However, local reports point to a struggle over the trade of swim bladders from the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), a critically endangered fish that lives in the Gulf of California. Also known as maws, these organs are in high demand in China and Hong Kong for their supposed medicinal properties. One person confessed to the murder, saying that Gallardo owed him more than $1 million from a totoaba load. Other evidence indicated that another narcotics trafficker wanted to supplant Gallardo and assert control of the trade for himself. Gallardo’s demise is one of the case studies chronicled in a recent report by the NGO C4ADS based in Washington, D.C. Mary Utermohlen, a program manager with C4ADS, said it’s easy to see how a shift from drugs to totoaba swim bladders might be enticing. The maw of totoaba on display during a press conference held by Greenpeace East Asia. Photo and caption © Greenpeace / Sudhanshu Malhotra. “If you were a narcotics trafficker and you realized that there was something else that’s more expensive, easier to traffic, easier to hide,” Utermohlen said in an interview. “If you got caught with it, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. People would probably let you off.” The trade in totoaba maw is decimating not only the totoaba, which hadn’t fully recovered&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/recent-report-totoaba-trafficking-a-conservation-and-security-problem/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/recent-report-totoaba-trafficking-a-conservation-and-security-problem/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-200810</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>First vaquita ‘rescued’ in bid to save the porpoise from extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/first-vaquita-rescued-in-bid-to-save-the-porpoise-from-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/first-vaquita-rescued-in-bid-to-save-the-porpoise-from-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Oct 2017 13:38:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/10/25045507/Copia-de-DSC_2436-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=200381</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, China, Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Fishing, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Natural Resources, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, Saving Species From Extinction, Science, Solutions, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Medicine, Vaquita, Videos, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For the first time, a team of scientists has captured and then released a vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a rare porpoise in the Gulf of California, as part of a project called VaquitaCPR aimed at hauling the critically endangered species back from the edge of extinction. “The successful rescue made conservation history and demonstrates that the goal of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For the first time, a team of scientists has captured and then released a vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a rare porpoise in the Gulf of California, as part of a project called VaquitaCPR aimed at hauling the critically endangered species back from the edge of extinction. “The successful rescue made conservation history and demonstrates that the goal of VaquitaCPR is feasible,” said Rafael Pacchiano, the minister of the environment and natural resources in Mexico, in a statement. “No one has ever captured and cared for a vaquita porpoise, even for a brief period of time.” Members of VaquitaCPR scan the sea for signs of vaquita in the Gulf of California. Photo credit: VaquitaCPR. The VaquitaCPR team, comprising members from at least seven countries, caught a 6-month-old calf on Oct. 19 with the aid of underwater acoustic monitoring, but team veterinarians noticed that the animal seemed to be stressed out. Once they had taken tissue samples for later genetic testing, they released it back into the location where they had found it. “While we were disappointed we could not keep the vaquita in human care, we have demonstrated that we are able to locate and capture a vaquita,” said Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, a government scientist and the head of VaquitaCPR, in the statement. Short for “Vaquita Conservation, Protection and Recovery,” VaquitaCPR is a Mexican government-led project aiming to find the porpoises in the wild and house them in specially built pens. It’s a last-ditch effort to save the remaining vaquita, whose numbers have declined to fewer than 30, one that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/first-vaquita-rescued-in-bid-to-save-the-porpoise-from-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/first-vaquita-rescued-in-bid-to-save-the-porpoise-from-extinction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-200381</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mexico takes ‘unprecedented’ action to save vaquita</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/mexico-takes-unprecedented-action-to-save-vaquita/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/mexico-takes-unprecedented-action-to-save-vaquita/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2017 19:18:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/10/15105908/Vaquita6_Olson_NOAA-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=200009</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, China, Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bioacoustics, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Extinction, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Gillnets, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Fishing, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Natural Resources, NGOs, Oceans, Overfishing, Vaquita, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A team of marine mammal experts is searching for the last vaquitas (Phocoena sinus) in the Gulf of California. They’ve gathered in northern Mexico, at the invitation of the government of Mexico, to make a last-ditch effort to capture and keep the remaining 30 porpoises safe until they’re no longer threatened by the gillnets that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A team of marine mammal experts is searching for the last vaquitas (Phocoena sinus) in the Gulf of California. They’ve gathered in northern Mexico, at the invitation of the government of Mexico, to make a last-ditch effort to capture and keep the remaining 30 porpoises safe until they’re no longer threatened by the gillnets that have decimated their numbers in recent years. “We are watching this precious native species disappear before our eyes,” said Rafael Pacchiano, Mexico’s minister of the environment and natural resources, in a January 2017 statement from the National Marine Mammal Foundation (NMMF). “This critical rescue effort is a priority for the Mexican government and we are dedicated to providing the necessary resources in order to give the plan its best chance of success.” An illustration of a vaquita by Greenpeace Mexico. Photo ©Greenpeace / Marcelo Otero. In April, the government committed $3 million to help fund Vaquita Conservation, Protection, and Recovery, or VaquitaCPR. CIRVA, the Spanish acronym for the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita, came up with the strategy, and it includes the possibility of long-term care and a breeding program at a newly built facility on land. In the meantime, authorities plan to clamp down on illegal gillnet fishers hunting for IUCN-listed critically endangered totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), a fish whose swim bladders sell for thousands of dollars in Asian markets. The government made a temporary ban on gillnets permanent in the vaquita’s range in June 2017. Ultimately, CIRVA wants to release captured critically endangered&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/mexico-takes-unprecedented-action-to-save-vaquita/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/mexico-takes-unprecedented-action-to-save-vaquita/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-200009</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Leonardo DiCaprio teams up with Mexico’s president and wealthiest individual to save the vaquita</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/leonardo-dicaprio-teams-up-with-mexicos-president-and-wealthiest-individual-to-save-the-vaquita/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/leonardo-dicaprio-teams-up-with-mexicos-president-and-wealthiest-individual-to-save-the-vaquita/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2017 17:02:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/11/03140304/0529_RKessler_Vaquita_Boat-495x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=196462</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Fishing, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Vaquita, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio has jumped into the fight to save the critically endangered vaquita together with the president of Mexico and the country’s wealthiest individual. An agreement signed Wednesday by DiCaprio, President Enrique Peña Nieto, and billionaire Carlos Slim makes a temporary ban on gillnets adopted by Mexico in 2015 permanent, with the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio has jumped into the fight to save the critically endangered vaquita together with the president of Mexico and the country’s wealthiest individual. An agreement signed Wednesday by DiCaprio, President Enrique Peña Nieto, and billionaire Carlos Slim makes a temporary ban on gillnets adopted by Mexico in 2015 permanent, with the goal of ending use of the fishing gear that has decimated vaquita numbers altogether. A report by the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita released in February found that there are as few as 30 vaquita left in the Upper Gulf of California, the small marine cetacean species’ only known range. Despite the ban adopted by Mexico two years ago, unlawful use of gillnets remains widespread in the Upper Gulf of California, where they’re used to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is much prized by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. Though no health benefits have yet been proven by science, it is believed that swim bladders from fish in the family Sciaenidate, which includes totoaba, can be used to cure a number of ailments. Vaquita become ensnared in the gillnets and drown, the chief cause of their precipitous population decline. According to the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita report, vaquita numbers dropped by 90 percent between 2011 and 2016. Honored to work w/ President Nieto (@EPN) &amp; Carlos Slim to ensure the future viability of marine life in the Gulf. https://t.co/QxRoL08Nd8 &mdash; Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) June 7, 2017&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/leonardo-dicaprio-teams-up-with-mexicos-president-and-wealthiest-individual-to-save-the-vaquita/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/leonardo-dicaprio-teams-up-with-mexicos-president-and-wealthiest-individual-to-save-the-vaquita/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-196462</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vaquita survival hinges on stopping international swim bladder trade</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/vaquita-survival-hinges-on-stopping-international-swim-bladder-trade/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/vaquita-survival-hinges-on-stopping-international-swim-bladder-trade/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2017 10:15:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/06/08143807/vaquita-noaa.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=196440</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Hong Kong, Mexico, Taiwan, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Bycatch, Conservation, Defaunation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fish, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Mammals, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Megafauna, Natural Resources, Oceans, Overfishing, Vaquita, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New evidence lays out the intricate trade in animal body parts that conservation groups say are driving two marine species in Mexico’s Gulf of California closer to extinction. The battle to save them will have to be fought on fronts in several countries. The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a tiny porpoise that averages just 43 kilograms [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Totoaba maws, or swim bladders, for sale in China. Photo courtesy of the Elephant Action League New evidence lays out the intricate trade in animal body parts that conservation groups say are driving two marine species in Mexico’s Gulf of California closer to extinction. The battle to save them will have to be fought on fronts in several countries. The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a tiny porpoise that averages just 43 kilograms (95 pounds) and 1.5 meters (5 feet), is the world’s most endangered cetacean, a group that includes whales and dolphins. In large measure, that&#8217;s because they share their habitat with a fish called the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) in a small slice of the Sea of Cortez between mainland Mexico and the Baja California peninsula. Gillnets intended for totoaba, as well as other fish, efficiently ensnare vaquita. Their numbers have plunged by 90 percent since 2011, according to a recent report by the conservation group WWF. Surging demand in China for the totoaba&#8217;s swim bladder, or “maw,” which helps the fish to float, is driving the harvest, sweeping up vaquita in the process, according to the report from WWF and a separate investigation by the watchdog group Elephant Action League. The totoaba itself is a Critically Endangered species according to the IUCN. To protect the vaquita, the organizations argue for a multinational effort to stop the flow of totoaba maws out of Mexico and through countries such as the U.S., as well as curbing the demand for them in southeastern&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/vaquita-survival-hinges-on-stopping-international-swim-bladder-trade/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/vaquita-survival-hinges-on-stopping-international-swim-bladder-trade/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-196440</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How acoustic monitoring gave us a last chance to save the vaquita</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/02/how-acoustic-monitoring-gave-us-a-last-chance-to-save-the-vaquita/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/02/how-acoustic-monitoring-gave-us-a-last-chance-to-save-the-vaquita/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Feb 2017 07:11:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rachel Fritts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/02/22072037/Sin-t%C3%ADtulo-768x377.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=193392</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Endangered Species, Extinction, Fisheries, Illegal Trade, Oceans, Technology, Vaquita, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Thanks to a five-year acoustic monitoring program, conservationists have detected the rapid decline of the vaquita before it is too late – giving them one last shot to save the species. By monitoring the vaquita’s clicking vocalizations, a new paper in Conservation Biology announced that the population of the vaquita has dropped to fewer than [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Thanks to a five-year acoustic monitoring program, conservationists have detected the rapid decline of the vaquita before it is too late – giving them one last shot to save the species. By monitoring the vaquita’s clicking vocalizations, a new paper in Conservation Biology announced that the population of the vaquita has dropped to fewer than 30 animals. Until recently the exact population size was unknown, hindering conservation efforts and further risking the species’ survival. The size of a large dog, the vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is the world’s most endangered porpoise. Unlike most cetaceans, its range is restricted to a small northern portion of the Gulf of California. Only discovered in 1958, the vaquita was already considered Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List by 1986. Today it is Critically Endangered. Beginning in 2011, the Acoustic Monitoring Program is an international collaborative effort between scientists from NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Mexico’s National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change. Since the project commenced, scientists estimate the total vaquita population has declined a staggering 90 percent, taking the global population down from an already troublingly low 200 individuals to less than 30. While researchers knew the vaquita was critically endangered, they were not expecting to document anything like this. “The [Acoustic Monitoring Program] was designed to detect the anticipated recovery of vaquitas. Instead we documented the consequence of the rise of the illegal [totoaba] fishery,” Dr. Barbara Taylor, lead author of the study, said. An acoustic monitoring program has revealed that there&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/02/how-acoustic-monitoring-gave-us-a-last-chance-to-save-the-vaquita/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/02/how-acoustic-monitoring-gave-us-a-last-chance-to-save-the-vaquita/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-193392</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>There are now just 30 vaquita left in the wild</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/02/there-are-now-just-30-vaquita-left-in-the-wild/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/02/there-are-now-just-30-vaquita-left-in-the-wild/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Feb 2017 17:47:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/02/02171117/Vaquita4_Olson_NOAA-768x377.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=192935</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Fishing, Mammals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Vaquita, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The vaquita continues to earn its title as “the world’s most endangered cetacean species.” According to a recent report by the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA), there are now just 30 vaquita left in the Upper Gulf of California, the body of water that separates Baja California from mainland Mexico and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The vaquita continues to earn its title as “the world’s most endangered cetacean species.” According to a recent report by the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA), there are now just 30 vaquita left in the Upper Gulf of California, the body of water that separates Baja California from mainland Mexico and the species’ only known range. About 49 percent of the remaining vaquita population was lost between 2015 and 2016, CIRVA found. That makes the average annual rate of decline between 2011 and 2016 an estimated 39 percent — meaning that the population declined by some 90 percent over that five-year period. The primary cause of death for the vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is becoming entangled in gillnets used to catch totoaba, a giant Mexican fish whose swim bladders are much in demand, especially in China. Vaquita, also known as vaquita marina, are a small porpoise, and when they become trapped in the nets they drown because they can’t return to the surface to breathe. An emergency ban on the use of gillnets in the vaquita’s range was adopted by the Mexican government in 2015, and is set to expire this April. CIRVA is calling for the ban to be made permanent. “[T]he already desperate situation has worsened, despite existing conservation measures and current enforcement efforts,” the authors of the CIRVA report write. “Unless this decline can be stopped by eliminating mortality in illegal gillnets, the vaquita will be extinct in a few years.” CIRVA found that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/02/there-are-now-just-30-vaquita-left-in-the-wild/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/02/there-are-now-just-30-vaquita-left-in-the-wild/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-192935</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists say current plan to protect the vaquita will not save the species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/scientists-say-current-plan-to-protect-the-vaquita-will-not-save-the-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/scientists-say-current-plan-to-protect-the-vaquita-will-not-save-the-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2016 14:12:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/11/03183302/Vaquita6_Olson_NOAA-768x356.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=190646</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Fishing, Mammals, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Overexploitation, Overfishing, and Vaquita]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This past July, U.S. President Barack Obama hosted Mexico’s President Peña Nieto at the White House to discuss bilateral cooperation on a range of issues, including several environmental matters. The meeting culminated in a proposal for, among other things, a series of measures aimed at protecting the critically endangered vaquita marina porpoise. Back in 1997, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This past July, U.S. President Barack Obama hosted Mexico’s President Peña Nieto at the White House to discuss bilateral cooperation on a range of issues, including several environmental matters. The meeting culminated in a proposal for, among other things, a series of measures aimed at protecting the critically endangered vaquita marina porpoise. Back in 1997, there were believed to be as many as 570 of the porpoises in the upper Gulf of California, the body of water that separates Baja California from mainland Mexico and the species&#8217; only known range. Conservationists say there are now fewer than 60 vaquita (Phocoena sinus) left in the wild, however, which is why it is often referred to as “the world’s most endangered cetacean species.” The vaquita population has been driven down so precipitously thanks to commercial shrimp trawlers and fishing gear called gillnets, which the oxygen-breathing mammals become entangled in, causing them to drown. But the real threat to the remaining vaquita population is China’s demand for swim bladders from a giant Mexican fish called the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi). Between 2011 and 2015, the vaquita population decreased by an estimated 80 percent as a result of bycatch in gillnets set illegally to capture totoaba. At the White House meeting, President Nieto agreed to permanently ban gillnets in the vaquita’s range (an emergency 2-year ban was adopted in May 2015). Presidents Obama and Nieto also agreed on a variety of collaborative measures, such as cracking down on the illegal totoaba trade, developing alternative fishing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/scientists-say-current-plan-to-protect-the-vaquita-will-not-save-the-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/scientists-say-current-plan-to-protect-the-vaquita-will-not-save-the-species/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-190646</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mexico bans gillnets to protect rare vaquita porpoise</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/mexico-bans-gillnets-to-protect-rare-vaquita-porpoise/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/mexico-bans-gillnets-to-protect-rare-vaquita-porpoise/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jul 2016 07:00:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/07/01195544/Vaquita4_Olson_NOAA-520x256.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=187774</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Gillnets, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Illegal Fishing, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Medicine, Vaquita, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From September, Mexico will permanently ban the use of gillnets throughout the range of vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus) in the upper Gulf of California. With just 60 individuals remaining in the wild, the vaquita porpoise is the world’s smallest, rarest and most threatened marine mammal. Night fishing will also be phased out by the end [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From September, Mexico will permanently ban the use of gillnets throughout the range of vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus) in the upper Gulf of California. With just 60 individuals remaining in the wild, the vaquita porpoise is the world’s smallest, rarest and most threatened marine mammal. Night fishing will also be phased out by the end of this year, Mario Aguilar Sánchez, Mexico’s National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commissioner, told reporters. Sánchez added that fishermen will have to use specific landing and unloading sites to help enforce protection measures. The vaquitas are being pushed to extinction by gillnet fishing for the critically endangered totoaba fish, mainly to meet the Chinese demand for totoaba swim bladders, believed to have unproven medicinal benefits. Vaquita porpoises get accidentally entangled in nets used to catch totoabas illegally, leading to their deaths. Fewer than 100 vaquitas remain in the Gulf of California. Photo by Paula Olson, NOAA. Trade in totoabas, or their parts, is illegal under both Mexican and U.S. law. To protect vaquitas, Mexico implemented an emergency two-year ban on gillnet fishing in 2015 in vaquita’s range. Now, the ban has been made permanent. “We are greatly encouraged by Mexico’s stated commitment to permanently ban all gillnets in all fisheries throughout the vaquita’s entire range &#8212; a step scientists have long recommended to stop vaquita from becoming entangled in Mexican fishing nets,” Animal Welfare Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a statement. “But to truly save the vaquita, the Mexican&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/mexico-bans-gillnets-to-protect-rare-vaquita-porpoise/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/mexico-bans-gillnets-to-protect-rare-vaquita-porpoise/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-187774</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Only 60 vaquita porpoises remain in the world</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/60-vaquita-remain-world/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/60-vaquita-remain-world/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 May 2016 07:46:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/05/01213347/vaquita6_olsen-520x252.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=186449</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Mexico, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Environment, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Vaquita, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world’s most endangered cetacean is quickly inching towards extinction. In 1997, about 570 vaquita porpoises (Phocoena sinus) were estimated to occur in the world. Now, only about 60 vaquitas remain, in a small 1,500 square-mile area in northern Gulf of California, according to a report presented last week by a group of scientists to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world’s most endangered cetacean is quickly inching towards extinction. In 1997, about 570 vaquita porpoises (Phocoena sinus) were estimated to occur in the world. Now, only about 60 vaquitas remain, in a small 1,500 square-mile area in northern Gulf of California, according to a report presented last week by a group of scientists to Mexico’s Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources and the governor of Baja California. “We are watching this precious native species disappear before our eyes,” Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, chair of CIRVA (the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita, CIRVA) and co-chief scientist of the latest vaquita survey, said in a statement. Fewer than 100 vaquitas remain in the Gulf of California. Photo by Paula Olson, NOAA. The rapid decline of the world’s smallest cetacean (group of marine animals that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises) is being driven by China’s demand for swim bladders of the giant, rare Mexican fish called the totoabas (Totoaba macdonaldi). Despite the Mexican government banning fishing for totoaba in 1975, illegal fishing continues. The swim bladders &#8212; believed to have unproven medicinal benefits &#8212; are usually smuggled from Mexico into the U.S., and then to Hong Kong and mainland China, where they sell for thousands of dollars per kilo. Vaquitas get accidentally entangled in illegal nets meant to catch totoabas, and drown. In March this year, for example, three dead vaquitas were discovered in northern Gulf of California. Necropsy results showed that the vaquitas had died due to entanglement in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/60-vaquita-remain-world/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-186449</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The vaquita could go extinct this year as totoaba poaching continues to increase</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/185698/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/185698/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Apr 2016 16:34:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/04/01215326/Vaquita4_Olson_NOAA-520x256.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=185698</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Fishing, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Vaquita, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[China’s demand for swim bladders from a giant Mexican fish called the totoaba is putting the species at risk. It’s also pushing a small porpoise known as the vaquita, one of the most endangered mammals in the world, to the brink of extinction. Vaquita or vaquita marina (Phocoena sinus) live in a roughly 1,500-square-mile area [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[China’s demand for swim bladders from a giant Mexican fish called the totoaba is putting the species at risk. It’s also pushing a small porpoise known as the vaquita, one of the most endangered mammals in the world, to the brink of extinction. Vaquita or vaquita marina (Phocoena sinus) live in a roughly 1,500-square-mile area of the upper Gulf of California, the smallest geographical range of any marine cetacean species. Biologists involved in assessing the vaquita population told Mongabay last May that there were &#8220;way less than 100&#8221; vaquita left, although they declined to give a specific number. More recent, unofficial estimates put their number at under 50. At least three vaquita have already been killed this season, so whatever their population size, vaquita appear to be creeping closer to extinction every day. The IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group said that necropsies of the vaquita confirmed the cause of death for all three was most likely gillnets, which vaquita become ensnared in after poachers illegally set the nets to catch totoaba. “In all three cases the cause of death was described as ‘trauma, entanglement,’” IUCN CSG’s Gill Braulik wrote. “The totoaba fishery has surged in recent years and is helping to drive the vaquita rapidly toward extinction. Currently all gillnets are banned in vaquita habitat, but the ban is in effect for only one more year.” Vaquita photo taken under permit (Oficio No. DR/488/08) from the Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), within a natural protected area subject to special management&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/185698/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-185698</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Aquatic cocaine’: Illegal trade in swim bladders of rare fish puts world’s rarest porpoise at risk of extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/aquatic-cocaine-illegal-trade-in-swim-bladders-of-rare-fish-puts-worlds-rarest-porpoise-at-risk-of-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/aquatic-cocaine-illegal-trade-in-swim-bladders-of-rare-fish-puts-worlds-rarest-porpoise-at-risk-of-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jan 2016 00:54:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/01/02223229/Vaquita6_Olson_NOAA-850x3101-520x190.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Hong Kong, Mexico, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Illegal Fishing, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Medicine, Vaquita, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An illegal trade in the swim bladder of the rare totoabas has placed both these fish and the world’s smallest and rarest marine mammal &#8212; the vaquita &#8212; at risk of extinction, a report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has revealed. Both species are critically endangered, and found only in the Gulf of California. Dried swim [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An illegal trade in the swim bladder of the rare totoabas has placed both these fish and the world’s smallest and rarest marine mammal &#8212; the vaquita &#8212; at risk of extinction, a report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has revealed. Both species are critically endangered, and found only in the Gulf of California. Dried swim bladders of totoabas &#8212; organs that help fish float &#8212; have been dubbed “aquatic cocaine” due to the high prices they fetch mainly in Chinese markets. For every kilogram of totoaba swim bladders sold, fishermen reportedly receive up to $8,500 in the local black market, according to the report. This demand for swim bladders (also called &#8220;maw&#8221;), for unproven medicinal benefits, is threatening not just the rare totoabas (Totoaba macdonaldi), but also the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), which get caught illegally in nets used to catch totoabas. In fact, fewer than 100 vaquitas remain in the Gulf of California. And conservationists estimate that if the current rate of decline continues, vaquitas could become extinct by 2018. “The vaquita’s extinction clock stands at one minute to midnight and the species is being pushed into oblivion by the demand of a relatively small number of Chinese consumers of totoaba maw,” Clare Perry, Team Leader of EIA’s Oceans Campaign, said in a statement. Fewer than 100 vaquitas remain in the Gulf of California. Photo by Paula Olson, NOAA. Once abundant in the waters of Gulf of California, Totoabas, which can grow more than two meters in length and weigh&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/01/aquatic-cocaine-illegal-trade-in-swim-bladders-of-rare-fish-puts-worlds-rarest-porpoise-at-risk-of-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-173740</doi>				</item>
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