Please sign and share this petition worldwide as we are urgently pleading with the Mexican government to strictly enforce their existing laws again illegal fishing. The continual fishing practices if not more diligently stopped will put the tiny vaquita porpoise in more danger of extinction.
Although there is a strict ban on illegal fishing in Mexico City, the ban and rules against illegal fishing do not seem to be fully monitored and enforced. As a result, the tiny vaquita porpoise seems to be driven to the edge of extinction. According to scientists, there are fewer than 100 of these marine mammals in existence in their natural habitat in the northern Gulf of California.
Fishermen are not purposely trying to endanger the vaquita porpoises; however, shrimp and other fish are imperative for their livelihood. When using their fillnets, they stretch for miles across the seas, presenting a lethal threat to the vaquita because they do get entangled within and die.
Along with shrimp and other fishing, a new threat leading to illegal fishing is the totoaba, which is a large fish that has a swim bladder that is a delicacy for China. Some of these people believe the swim bladder has medicinal properties. The issue still remains; the vaquita porpoises also get caught in the nets that are set for the totoaba and die.
A new policy has been implemented in the Mexican Government that states it will ban gillnets for two years across 5,000 square miles of the upper gulf and compensate the fishermen for their lost catch. Additionally, the ban will take effect later this month and the government will begin paying the first installments of $72 million (in installments over 2 years) in subsidies to fishermen and others who make their living from the shrimp catch.
In the meantime, researchers are working for way to improve and develop vaquita-safe nets that fishermen can use to catch their shrimp but will not snag and kill the endangered porpoise. Although there are some such nets, fishermen believe they cannot make enough from their catch to feed their loved ones. The problem is that the current illegal ban on fishing is not sufficiently and appropriately enforced. This is what we are trying to accomplish with the pleas in this petition and you can help in our efforts by signing and sharing it everywhere possible, worldwide. We have got to save this tiny yet endangered vaquita porpoise.
Mexican Government and World Wildlife Fund Mexico Officials - You need to severely crack down on all illegal fishing and enforce your laws that will save and protect the vaquita tiny porpoises. Work along with the Navy and other environmental conservation fishing organizations that will more closely monitor any illegal practices on the waters that endangers this small but vital porpoise. Take any additional measures necessary, like a proposed broader development plan for fishing communities, as stated by Silvia Díaz of Greenpeace Mexico. Increase your methods, manpower and resources to ensure you enforce your laws and protect these mammals from endangerment and extinction.
