Mexico along with 182 countries committed to save vaquita porpoise

Today September 29, Mexico along with 182 member countries of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) agreed to do more to curb the illicit poaching and trade in the totoaba fish which directly threatens the survival prospects of the endangered vaquita porpoise.

At a meeting held in Johannesburg, South Africa, Mexico submitted a proposal which calls on member countries to intercept illegal shipments of totoaba and report all seizures, arrests and prosecutions to the CITES Secretariat, with the results subsequently analyzed and recommendations for further actions made annually.

Both species are listed on Appendix I of CITES, banning all international trade, yet a lucrative black market for the dried swim bladder of the totoaba has grown in recent years due to demand from the main market in China.

In 2007, 250 vaquita porpoises were reported in the Gulf of California, of which only 60 remain today.