BajaNomad

How to appease poachers and sociopaths... let them kill vacquita and sell totoaba guts to quacks and charlatans

mtgoat666 - 3-2-2021 at 06:14 PM

The news! Say goodbye to the vaquita!

MEXICO CITY (AP) — THE Mexican government said Saturday it is considering reducing the protection area for the vaquita marina in the upper Gulf of California, an apparent admission that the tiny porpoise may never return to the entire historic range of its habitat.

The move would cut the area where gill nets are banned to protect the world’s most endangered marine mammal and smallest porpoise. As few as 10 vaquita may remain in the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, the only place in the world that the elusive porpoise lives. The vaquita were killed off in stupid peoples quest for quackery.


[Edited on 3-3-2021 by mtgoat666]

freediverbrian - 3-2-2021 at 07:16 PM

Very sad. The objective was to save both the vanquita and the totoaba. With both species in the same area , banning gill nets would have done that , now that the vaquita has been deemed not worth saving the toboba which was making to come back will be targeted once the net ban is raised.

JZ - 3-2-2021 at 07:43 PM

Very dumb.

LancairDriver - 3-3-2021 at 08:25 AM

The Mexican government policy of pandering to the highest bidder and failing to enforce sensible fishing regulations will result in eventually turning the Sea of Cortez from a once thriving body of water teaming with sea life into a disaster for the Mexican citizens unable to cope with.

PaulW - 3-3-2021 at 02:45 PM

Who are the poachers, sociopaths, quacks, and charlatans?
Answer:
Mostly uneducated unemployed fishermen with no way to provide for their families.

Lobsterman - 3-3-2021 at 03:36 PM

Last I looked the SOC belongs to Mexico. If Mexico wants to prioritize the wellbeing of its people in the area over 10 porpoise it's not our business. Why don't you guys send money to Green Peace and adopt a porpoise. It might make you feel better.

Why not go after the people who buy these products instead of calling people names who just want to live and benefit off the few resources in their area. As usual Goat just wants to stir it up with a post with no solution and none of his business. Name calling makes this little man feel superior to others.

skeletor wallpaper

motoged - 3-3-2021 at 04:39 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Lobsterman  
Name calling makes this little man feel superior to others.



Isn't "little man" kinda like name calling ?

mtgoat666 - 3-3-2021 at 05:08 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Lobsterman  
Last I looked the SOC belongs to Mexico. If Mexico wants to prioritize the wellbeing of its people in the area over 10 porpoise it's not our business.


I think it is everybody’s business. Environmental issues are global, everything is connected.
Wrong is wrong, whether in my country or another country.



white whale - 3-4-2021 at 09:30 AM

I was under the impression the vacquita demise was a by-catch and gill net issue. When I saw quackery mentioned I wondered what do the chinese think this will cure now? I only knew of the vacquita through this forum. Sadly no big names came to draw more media attention.

Sea Shepard has quite the campaign on. From their postings I see they are not fooling around in the gulf. There is a small vid clip showing the incident where one mexican fisherman died in the latest confrontation. This story might have legs as they say.

Greenpeace will knock on your door, Sea Shepard will bust it down. Who says Canadians are too polite?

[Edited on 3-4-2021 by white whale]

BajaNomad - 4-11-2021 at 02:57 AM

"The government’s most recent analysis seems to accept the probability that the tiny porpoise species can never return to its original range of habitat... The inter-agency group of Mexican federal officials met Friday to consider recommending opening the Gulf of California to legal fishing of the totoaba, which was also placed on Mexico’s endangered species list in 1975. The animal’s dried swim bladder is considered a delicacy in China and can yield thousands of dollars... 'This agenda is focused on maintaining the status quo and abandoning the vaquita marina and returning to fishing for totoaba,' said Alex Olivera, the Mexico representative for the Center for Biological Diversity. 'It is disappointing that this administration has ruined everything that had been done' in a decade-long fight to save the tiny porpoise. The head of Mexico’s environmental ministry said once the protected area for the vaquita is reduced, the agency would consider lifting the ban on gillnets in some of the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez. 'The possibility of modifying the area of prohibition of all gillnets is being studied,' said María Luisa Albores González, the head of Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT, for its initials in Spanish). 'There are sufficient technical studies that point to a possible reduction of the polygon (protected area) according to the recent distribution of the vaquita porpoise in the area.'"

March 16, 2021
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/border-baja-califo...

bajaric - 4-11-2021 at 06:06 AM

The UT is asking for a subscription now, but I was able to read the article when it was posted.

Something I noticed, the Mexican authorities said that the US taking all of the water from the Colorado River could be the culprit behind the demise of the vaquita. This was dismissed, with the comment that "Mexico is blaming the US". As if diverting the entire flow of the Colorado river and leaving the Delta to dry up can not possibly have any impact on the marine life of the upper Sea of Cortez.

Russ - 4-11-2021 at 06:26 AM

It's not just the northern SOC that is being rape by the nets. It was like an aquarium here years ago and all the warning flags were up that the fish resources were in trouble. 20 years later I'm lucky to catch one fish to bring home after a surf fishing excursion.:(

mtgoat666 - 4-11-2021 at 06:40 AM

Quote: Originally posted by bajaric  
The UT is asking for a subscription now, but I was able to read the article when it was posted.

Something I noticed, the Mexican authorities said that the US taking all of the water from the Colorado River could be the culprit behind the demise of the vaquita. This was dismissed, with the comment that "Mexico is blaming the US". As if diverting the entire flow of the Colorado river and leaving the Delta to dry up can not possibly have any impact on the marine life of the upper Sea of Cortez.



The gillnets are killing the vacquita.. the gillnetters are chasing totoaba, because Chinese pay ridiculous prices for their bladders.

Over-fishing has ruined fish stocks all around Mexico.

It is not America’s fault

BajaNomad - 4-11-2021 at 11:25 AM

Totoaba, circa Dec 2019.

mexico-totoaba-fishermen-1200.jpg - 198kB