This Thursday, April 13, the Mexican environmental authority announced in a statement that the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) approved the action plan of the Government of Mexico. which seeks the prevention of illegal fishing and trade of totoaba and protection of the vaquita porpoise.
In addition, with this measure, the recommendation to member countries to suspend all trade with Mexico of species included in its appendices will be withdrawn.
He stressed that the Action plan According to the observations of that international organization, it was exposed by the Mexican delegation made up of Environment, Marine, Foreign Relations and Agriculture.
This fact was achieved after the representatives of the Environment Secretariats, Marine, External relationships and Agriculture and Rural Development, will travel to Geneva, Switzerland, on March 27, to hold a meeting with those in charge of CITES.
It should be noted that most of the actions included in the Action Plan have been addressed since the GIS was created in November 2020, so they will be reinforced to achieve better results. For its part, the General Secretariat of CITES recognized the commitment of Mexico, which acted above all to protect thousands of families that would be affected by the trade restriction.
The Action Plan is made up of seven lines of action and 34 goals.
-Monitor effective compliance with regard to authorized loading and unloading sites in accordance with the regulatory agreement.
-Prevent the entry of vessels to the Zero Tolerance Zone (Zo) as well as keep it free of gillnets together with the Vaquita Refuge Zone (ZRV).
-Strengthen intelligence actions to combat transnational organized crime on illegal totoaba trafficking.
-Implement a Program for alternative fishing gear and the Program for marking and fishing equipment for small vessels.
–Monitor the vaquita population.
-Raise awareness about the illegal trade in totoaba and the consequences for conservation.
-Install the Trilateral Contact Group for the application of the law in operation.
Among the goals that will be sought are: the installation of video surveillance, signaling the Zero Tolerance Zone (Zo), intensification of maritime, land and air patrols, the destruction of nets found in the Zo, monitoring of the vaquita population , to mention just a few.
For its part, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico (Semarnat) was engaged in reinforce their actions to protect the vaquitaa seriously endangered porpoise, in order to avoid trade sanctions from the CITES environmental convention.
The dangers facing the vaquita porpoise
The vaquita is seriously affected by the illegal fishing of the totoaba fish, which was declared in Danger of extinction and for whose swim bladder high prices are paid in Asian markets.
This exploitation of the totoaba dates back to the 1920s, and has not only endangered this species but also the vaquita, a aquatic mammal with which it shares geographic space.
Phocoena sinus (vaquita marina) is an endemic species of Mexico, its home is in the northern Gulf of California and it is considered Endangered (P) on the list of species in risk category in NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010.
