MEXICO CITY (AP) – The Mexican government said Saturday it is considering reducing the protection area of the vaquita marina in the high Gulf of California, which means the tiny porpoise can never return to the entire Gulf. historical area of its habitat.
This measure would cut off the area where gillnets are banned to protect the world’s most endangered marine mammals and the smallest porpoise. Up to ten heifers can stay in the gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, the only place in the world where the fleeting elusive lives.
The Mexican Department of the Environment said Saturday that the drop in the number of cows and the area where they have been seen in recent years justifies the reduction in the protection zone, which currently covers most of the high gulf. The area begins around the Colorado River Delta and extends south past the fishing town of San Felipe and near Puerto Peñasco.
“The possibility of modifying the ban area of the branches is being studied,” the department said in a statement. “There have been enough technical studies to indicate a possible reduction in the area, according to the recent distribution of the cow port in the area.”
He said the change would be discussed by a group that included fishermen, the public and authorities and that formal proposals could be submitted until March 26.
The net ban has angered fishermen, who often set up illegal nets to catch totoaba, another endangered species. Heifers are often trapped in nets intended for totoaba, whose swimming bladder is considered a delight in China and is priced at thousands of dollars per kilogram.
Fishermen have staged angry protests and attacked boats belonging to the environmental group Sea Shepherd, which removes illegal nets in the smallest area where cows have been seen in recent years.
Alex Olivera, Mexico’s representative at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the reduction could affect the still-small cow population.
“Reducing the area also means cutting the area available for the marina of vaquita and, of course, this species does not live in a coral, but lives in the marine environment, so as soon as it leaves the area could face in gill nets. , which are a threat, “Olivera said.