Dolphins leap out of the Indian Ocean near a fishing boat. Andrew TB Tan / Moment / Getty Images
Fishing operations in the Indian Ocean have decimated dolphin populations over the last 70 years, according to a new study published in the journal Endangered Species Research.
<p>The fishing operations that have had dolphins swept up as bycatch have meant that nearly 4 million dolphins have died since 1950 and the population of dolphins in the Indian Ocean has declined by nearly 80 percent, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>Those numbers just represent the dolphins killed directly as bycatch of drifting <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/gillnets">nets</a> that trail behind large fishing boats and do not represent the number of dolphins, porpoises or whales killed by floating ghost nets, harpoons, other types of tuna fishing or animals that are injured and succumb to their wounds later. That means the actual number of dolphins killed from commercial fishing may actually be much higher, according to the <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2020/41/n041p039.pdf" target="_blank">study</a>.</p>
<p>Looking at driftnets, which account for just over one-third of Indian Ocean commercial fisheries, the researchers were able to calculate that the number of dolphins, porpoises, and whales killed directly each year as bycatch peaked at around 100,000 from 2004 to 2006. That number has come down slightly and is now around 85,000 cetaceans annually, according to the <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2020/41/n041p039.pdf" target="_blank">study</a>.</p><p>Unfortunately, the authors do not believe the decline in bycatch is the result of improved practices, which are essentially unregulated. Instead, they believe it reflects the declining dolphin population, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>The study's lead author, Charles Anderson of the Manta Marine organization in the Maldives, estimated that the dolphin numbers had probably dropped to only 13 percent their pre-1980 levels, which is when large-scale tuna fishing in the Indian Ocean began, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>"Declining cetacean bycatch rates suggest that such levels of mortality are not sustainable," the <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2020/41/n041p039.pdf" target="_blank">study</a> says. "Indeed, mean small cetacean abundance may currently be 13 percent of pre-fishery levels. None of these estimates are precise, but they do demonstrate the likely order of magnitude of the issue."</p>
<p>There are many limitations in obtaining the exact number of mammal deaths due to bycatch, one of the study's author's told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, especially considering that most dolphins caught up in driftnets were not registered and were likely tossed over the side of the boat. These types of nets also snare turtles, whales and sharks.</p><p>The researcher, Puti Liza Mustika, from James Cook University's College of Business, Law and Governance, clarified that most of the bycatch was dolphins and that there was some reliable data from observers on boats and from previous studies. However, as a researcher, some clearer numbers would be helpful.</p><p>"That bycatch number is alarming, but there are a lot of uncertainties because the datasets are insufficient," Mustika told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>Adding to an element of uncertainty is that Iran and Indonesia, the countries that run the two largest tuna operations in the Indian Ocean, have no system of reporting cetacean bycatch. Consequently, Iran's average annual bycatch of 214,262 tons of tuna likely kills more than 30,000 dolphins, porpoises and whales every year, according to the <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2020/41/n041p039.pdf" target="_blank">study</a>, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.<br></p><p>"It's a painful death. Dolphins are clever, but because the net is very thin in the water, the dolphins' sonar misses them," said Mustika to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/more-than-80-of-indian-ocean-dolphins-may-have-been-killed-by-commercial-fishing-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. She added that the impetus to solve the problem is on scientists and tech companies. "The solution has to be technology, as well as using fishing gears that are more sustainable. But banning these fishers is not a solution for developing countries."</p>The <a href="https://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2020/41/n041p039.pdf" target="_blank">study</a> concluded that oversight is needed, saying its findings showed "the need for much improved monitoring, mitigation and management."
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There are only between six and 19 vaquitas left, a new study has concluded, and, unless swift action is taken, the endangered species could go extinct within a year.
<p>The world's smallest porpoises, found only in Mexico's Gulf of California, are threatened because they are caught by mistake in illegal gillnets. The study, <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.190598" target="_blank">published in Royal Society Open Science Wednesday</a>, found that 10 had died this way from March 2016 to March 2019.</p>
<p>"Every day wasted is making a difference. The key thing is that we need action now," study co-author Len Thomas, an ecological statistician at the University of St. Andrews' Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mb8myy/we-have-just-days-to-save-this-rare-endangered-porpoise-from-extinction" target="_blank">told Vice</a>. "There are only days to do this."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The world's most endangered marine mammal, the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vaquita?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vaquita</a>, is now literally on the brink of extinction due to bycatch in an illegal fishery. We estimate only 9 remained in summer 2018 (confidence interval 6-19). Deaths continuing, *immediate* action needed. <a href="https://t.co/SacfgOgbf0">https://t.co/SacfgOgbf0</a> <a href="https://t.co/EU1ADPplMz">pic.twitter.com/EU1ADPplMz</a></p>— Len Thomas (@len_thom) <a href="https://twitter.com/len_thom/status/1156451928903229440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>Researchers from St. Andrews in Scotland, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Mexican government counted the vaquitas by listening for their echolocation clicks. It is easier to monitor the porpoises acoustically than visually, <a href="https://weather.com/science/news/2019-07-31-vaquita-porpoises-endangered-fewer" target="_blank">The Weather Channel explained</a>. Since they began acoustic monitoring in 2011, the researchers have determined that the vaquita population has fallen by 98.6 percent.</p><p>That decline is due to the use of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/gillnets">gillnets</a>, large vertical nets that fishermen leave in the water to collect the totoaba whose bladders are important in traditional Chinese medicine, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/31/fewer-than-19-vaquita-porpoises-left-study-mexico-illegal-fishing-nets" target="_blank">The Guardian explained</a>.</p><p>Mexico banned <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fishing" target="_self">fishing</a> with gillnets in 2015, but despite this, the practice has continued. The researchers found that the vaquita population declined by 48 percent in 2017 and 47 percent in 2018. Their numbers are now dangerously low.</p><p>"Based on the uncertainty inherent in the models, the number could be as few as six," Thomas told The Guardian.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"“Based on the uncertainty inherent in the models, the number could be as few as six vaquitas” Support Sea Shepherd's work to protect marine wildlife: <a href="https://t.co/rTYqUhO2WV">https://t.co/rTYqUhO2WV</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OpMilagro?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OpMilagro</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SavetheVaquita?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SavetheVaquita</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FortheOceans?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FortheOceans</a></p>— Sea Shepherd (@seashepherd) <a href="https://twitter.com/seashepherd/status/1156579437149872129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>But Thomas also told Vice that the animals were not doomed as long as the political will to stop illegal fishing could be generated in time. The vaquitas' habitat is small enough to monitor effectively, and the animals are otherwise healthy.</p><p>"There are many instances of other species that recover from low population numbers," Thomas told Vice. "If we stopped illegal fishing, they could bounce back. It's not a reason at the moment to give up."</p><p><a href="https://seashepherd.org/" target="_blank">Sea Shepherd</a>, a marine <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> group that actively works to help vaquitas by dredging up nets, also expressed hope.</p><p>"The important takeaway is that they're still out there," the group's science department coordinator Eva Hidalgo told The Guardian. "No matter how low the numbers are, there's still hope for the species if we manage to keep them safe. Sea Shepherd is doing as much as possible to ensure the area remains net-free. In recent years we have seen two vaquita calves, so they can be saved. As long as there is one vaquita left, we are going to continue to fight for them."</p>
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Demonstrators with the Animal Welfare Institute hold a rally to save the vaquita, the world's smallest and most endangered porpoise in Washington, DC, on July 5, 2018. SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images
Scientists announced Thursday that only 10 vaquita porpoises likely remain in the world and that the animal's extinction is virtually assured without bold and immediate action.
<p>The <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/vaquita/index.html" target="_blank">vaquita</a>, the world's smallest and most endangered cetacean, is found only in Mexico's northern Gulf of California. The release of the new vaquita estimate comes just two days after reports of the possible first vaquita mortality of 2019. More details are expected in the coming days.</p>
<p>Thursday's announcement from the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita also calls on Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to end all gillnet fishing and adopt a "zero tolerance" policy of enforcement in the vaquita's small remaining habitat. The committee is an international team of scientific experts assembled in 1996 to assist in vaquita recovery efforts.<br><br>"One of Earth's most incredible creatures is about to be wiped off the planet forever," said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Yet Mexico has only made paper promises to protect these porpoises from deadly nets, without enforcement on the water. Time is running out for President Lopez Obrador to stop all gillnet fishing and save the vaquita."<br><br>The vaquita faces a single threat: entanglement in illegal gillnets set for shrimp and various fish species, including endangered totoaba. Totoaba swim bladders are illegally exported by organized criminal syndicates from Mexico to China, where they are highly valued for their perceived medicinal properties.<br><br>Despite efforts in Mexico to curb gillnet fishing of shrimp and other fish and efforts in China to reduce demand for totoaba, the vaquita's population dropped 50 percent in 2018, leaving an estimate of around 10 remaining vaquita, with no more than 22 and perhaps as few as six.<br><br>"There is only the tiniest sliver of hope remaining for the vaquita," said Kate O'Connell, a marine wildlife consultant with the Animal Welfare Institute. "Mexico must act decisively to ensure that all gillnet fishing is brought to an end throughout the Upper Gulf. If the vaquita is not immediately protected from this deadly fishing gear, it will go extinct on President Lopez Obrador's watch."<br><br>In 2017, in the face of international pressure, Mexico banned the use of most gillnets within the vaquita's range, but enforcement has been lacking. For example, during the 2018 illegal totoaba fishing season, nearly 400 active totoaba gillnets were documented in a small portion of the vaquita's range, and gillnets continue to be found within the vaquita refuge. Recent violence against conservationists in the region has limited critically important net removal efforts.<br><br>"If Mexico doesn't want to be guilty of wiping out a species, it needs to secure 100 percent gillnet-free habitat now," said Zak Smith, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council's Marine Mammal Protection Project. "What's happening to the vaquita is a disgrace and entirely preventable, yet the Obrador administration has not committed to a robust vaquita recovery plan and has already missed deadlines on vaquita conservation commitments."<br><br>"The organized criminal networks trafficking totoaba swim bladders from Mexico to China are responsible for the illegal fishing nets driving the vaquita to extinction," said Clare Perry, ocean campaign leader for the Environmental Investigation Agency. "Unless Mexico gets serious about enforcement and works with China and key transit countries to dismantle those networks, there is no hope for the remaining vaquita."<br><br>Despite the marine mammal's alarming decline, the international committee emphasized that the vaquita is not extinct and that recovery remains possible. They are still producing offspring, and the remaining animals are healthy, showing no signs of disease or malnutrition. The international community plays a critical role in vaquita conservation.<br><br>In 2018 a U.S. court temporarily banned the import of seafood caught with dangerous gillnets in vaquita habitat. This year parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the World Heritage Convention are considering additional conservation measures for the vaquita and totoaba.</p>
<div id="153b7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="MJ8AUM1568219058"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1106237180819599360" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">On March 12th, 2019 The @MVFarleyMowat crew discovered a dead vaquita trapped in a totoaba gillnet. 🐬😢
Read the ar… https://t.co/leT1V0p8KW</div> — Sea Shepherd SSCS (@Sea Shepherd SSCS)<a href="https://twitter.com/SeaShepherdSSCS/statuses/1106237180819599360">1552582471.0</a></blockquote></div>
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A vaquita photographed in Mexico in 2008. Paula Olson, NOAA
My organization, the Elephant Action League (EAL), spent 14 months investigating and infiltrating the illicit totoaba swim bladder supply chain, from Baja California in Mexico to Southern China. We released a public report on what we called Operation Fake Gold in July 2018. Since then, we have continued to submit intelligence to Mexican, U.S. and Chinese authorities in order to facilitate disruption of the totoaba supply chain. As a result, further review of the situation surrounding the totoaba trade and its effect on the extinction of the vaquita is warranted.
<p>According to various sources in the Sea of Cortez, the price of raw totoaba swim bladder in Baja California is currently about $2,500 per bladder. This is down from highs of $5,000 to $8,000 per bladder in past years. Although this is a positive and promising development, a development that needs to continue and be supported, it is relatively unnoticed and undervalued by the media, other NGOs and government agencies currently trying to save the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/vaquita">vaquita</a>. A reduction in profit for the Totoaba Cartels is an important key to ending totoaba poaching in the Sea of Cortez.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTI0MTcxMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODUyMTU2OX0.Hp1dsNljrRYEhQBUjpC47R22hN_sEJXcaE8w1gU8h5o/img.jpg?width=980" id="42ad6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="588d007690c19967e175a7f378633928" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">A dead vaquita</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Elephant Action League</small></p><p>More importantly, according to our sources on the ground in Baja California, recent arrests of totoaba traffickers in China and pressure on the Chinese traders in Mexico are beginning to have an effect on the supply chain. Illegal fishermen in Baja have started complaining about a lack of income from the trade. The fishermen claim that the Chinese traders in Mexico are becoming fearful of the possibility of arrest and much less money is flowing to their shores. They are saying that it is not worth the effort and possible danger associated with setting new illegal <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/gillnets">gillnets</a> — the same nets that kill vaquita and other important <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life">marine life</a> — to poach totoaba.<br></p><p>This is the most important news for the vaquita in years and a result of — and proof that — intelligence activities and law enforcement can disrupt these criminal enterprises and significantly slow their illegal operations. Intelligence operations produce results.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTI0MTcxNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTI4ODk2MX0.UdKeGY1MzeTpY8MK83Z_3t2Y_70WBI5HE-Jo5oGPImI/img.jpg?width=980" id="e53ce" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="01d5703a7dadc679c7512b9091cb922e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">This still from the documentary film 'Sea of Shadows' shows a Mexican navy soldier searching for poaching vessels in the Sea of Cortez. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Richard Ladkani / Malaika Pictures</small></p><p>Unfortunately, as is the case with many other <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife">wildlife</a> crime-related issues around the world, governments agencies, NGOs, and donors are disproportionately focused on the extremities of the supply chain — <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/poaching">poaching</a> and consumer awareness campaigns. There is very little focus and funding for the most important part of the problem, the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/investigation-reveals-illegal-trade-cartels-decimating-vaquita-porpoises/" target="_blank">trafficking networks and middlemen driving the trade</a>. The only activities that can truly move the needle are investigation and intelligence collection like that performed during EAL's Operation Fake Gold, filmed as part of the feature documentary <a href="https://www.terramater.at/cinema/sea-of-shadows/" target="_blank"><em>Sea of Shadows</em></a>, which recently <a href="http://www.sundance.org/blogs/news/2019-sundance-film-festival-awards-announced" target="_blank">won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival</a>.</p><p>A few large, U.S.-based NGOs, with the intent of forcing the Mexican government to save the vaquita, filed and won a lawsuit to ban imports of gillnet-caught seafood from Mexico. EAL publicly opposed this effort as being counterproductive. As expected, the ban has exacerbated the already complex and violent situation in Baja California. According to first-hand sources, the ban not only pushed the last few honest independent fishermen into poaching, but also created a parallel illegal shrimp trade run by local criminal organizations. The ban has done nothing but create more conflict on the shores of Baja California and more illegal fishing in the Sea of Cortez. It is now very hard to find a legal fishery in the area.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTI0MTcyMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMTQzNzUwNH0.lbVnvACOmeO4-efyNj-jqizVOU9VrpeNpX9sEGQoWfY/img.jpg?width=980" id="13053" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="df8e5ff9eda5357004b52eceafb5fc93" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Fresh totoaba swim bladder seized in Mexico</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Elephant Action League</small></p><p>Again, the most significant pieces of any illegal supply chain, the trafficking networks and middlemen, can only be tackled through intelligence operations, investigations and resulting law enforcement. Intelligence operations work to decrease the militarization of conservation and the violence that now pervades the Sea of Cortez and its shores. Without knowledge of the criminal players within a wildlife trafficking network, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> is impossible, and the rule of law is irrelevant.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTI0MTcyMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNTQ5OTk1MX0.4QYx5yX4g5pYxKiNIDmMpBdDhArarXrSKeY4AVhSokY/img.jpg?width=980" id="f23d0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2555aaaaee1b003eb3d569b9e83aaa37" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Totoaba on sale in China</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Elephant Action League</small></p><p>In Baja, among pervasive corruption, attacks on NGOs, widespread violence and still incredible profits for totoaba traffickers, only serious intelligence and undercover operations along the entire supply chain, including on the flow of money, create any hope for achieving an upper hand over the current chaos. Without these efforts aimed at direct disruption of the supply chain itself and the operations of the wildlife crime networks involved, there is absolutely no chance to win the war in the Sea of Cortez, save the vaquita, and save the rest of the region's extraordinary marine life.<br></p><p>Without a serious effort in terms of intelligence collection, investigation and law enforcement to thwart totoaba traffickers, we can say goodbye to the vaquita. The money spent to-date to protect the vaquita will have been wasted.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTI0MTcyNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzQ0MzkxOX0.MTH1AZ9OkvgHx-ZheD74PsOluqBpUTGt57SKt-NRdS4/img.jpg?width=980" id="987d7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="086223f6cd4b913d1e953992d634e89c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">This still from the documentary film 'Sea of Shadows' shows a totoaba caught in a net. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Richard Ladkani / Malaika Pictures</small></p><p><em>Andrea Crosta is executive director and co-founder of international wildlife trade watchdog group <a href="https://elephantleague.org/" target="_blank">Elephant Action League</a>.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/vaquita-still-doomed-without-further-disruption-of-totoaba-cartels-commentary/?iid=obinsite" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>
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The body of a vaquita killed as bycatch in Baja California, Mexico. Flip Nicklin / Minden
In a crucial win for the quickly vanishing vaquita porpoise, a federal appeals court sided with conservationists Wednesday when it upheld a ban on Mexican seafood imports caught with gillnets, which drown the endangered marine mammal. "Immediate pressure on Mexico to ban all gillnets in the upper Gulf of California and to clear the area of illegal nets is necessary now for the vaquita's survival," said Giulia Good Stefani, a staff attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
<p>The Trump administration was challenging a preliminary ban secured <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/nrdc/court-orders-ban-imported-seafood-caught-deadly-gillnets-save-mexicos-vaquita-porpoise" target="_blank">back in July</a> after NRDC, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Animal Welfare Institute <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/nrdc/nrdc-sues-protect-vaquita-porpoise" target="_blank">filed suit</a> in the U.S. Court of International Trade. Since then, the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Treasury and Homeland Security have tried to modify or undo the ban three times. "The federal agencies charged with protecting the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/vaquita">vaquita</a> should focus their resources on saving the last of these animals rather than continuing to lose in the courtroom," Stefani said.</p><p>Failing to address Mexico's fishing practices violates the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/taryn-kiekow-heimer/law-protecting-marine-mammals-turns-45-congress-kill-it" target="_blank">Marine Mammal Protection Act</a>, which requires the U.S. government to ban seafood imports from international fisheries if they kill or injure marine mammals at a rate above U.S. standards. Despite repeated <a href="http://www.iucn-csg.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/CIRVA-8-Report-Final.pdf" target="_blank">recommendations by scientists</a>, Mexico still allowed the use of gillnets, which kill about 50 percent of the rapidly dwindling vaquita population every year.</p><p>Today, an estimated 15 vaquita remain in the upper Gulf of California—just 5 percent of the population 20 years ago. Scientists predict that the species will be extinct soon, possibly even by 2021, if Mexican fishing practices and law enforcement efforts remain unchanged. "It's time for the U.S. government to accept the opinion, ensure full implementation of the ban, and continue to work with the government of Mexico to save the vaquita," said DJ Schubert, a wildlife biologist with the <a href="https://awionline.org/" target="_blank">Animal Welfare Institute</a>.</p>
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Silvertip Sharks (Carcharhinus albimarginatus) caught in gillnet. Jeff Rotman / Oxford Scientific / Getty Images
The California State Assembly unanimously approved a bill on Thursday that phases out the use drift gillnets in the state by January 2023.
The controversial fishing gear, which can stretch a mile long and suspend 100 feet underwater, is used by fishers to target sharks and swordfish, but the nets inadvertently entangle and kill scores of other marine animals, including endangered species.
<p>
The Assembly voted 78 to 0 on
<a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1017" target="_blank">Senate Bill 1017</a>, sponsored by state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica). It passed 36 to 1 in the Senate in June. It now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has until Sept. 30 to sign it into law.
</p><p>
"So grateful to everyone for their hard work pulling together a strong bipartisan vote in support of protecting marine-life from unnecessary death with SB 1017," Allen
<a href="https://twitter.com/BenAllenCA/status/1034926170955964416" target="_blank">tweeted</a> Thursday.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQxNzcxNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTE4MDAwM30.y8t89KUnTYfH1xrrRnEBgwa8-gXLygCz4tvfyRga1S4/img.jpg?width=980" id="1c62c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="38ed18a0fef5754e3170269261f66907" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Gillnet with white perch.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."> NOAA / Chris Doley</small></p><p>Should the bill become law, it would create a buy-back program that offers up to $110,000 to fishers to give up their nets,
<a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/New-California-Law-Will-Ban-Mile-Long-Fishing-Nets-Blamed-For-Killing-Whales-Sharks-Dolphins-and-Other-Sea-Life-492137961.html" target="_blank">NBC Bay Area</a> reported.<br></p><p>
California fishers said the ban threatens their livelihood and the buyout amount is not enough for them to transition to another type of fishing.
</p><p>
"I don't know what I'd do," Mike Flynn, who has used drift gillnets to catch swordfish for the past 40 years, told the publication. "There's very few of us left, and we don't seem to have a chance ... we're being villainized, unjustly."
</p><p>
The news site reported that some 20 fisherman actively use the gear off the California coast, down from 141 active permits at its peak in 1990, according to NOAA.
</p><p>
<span></span>The bill's passage comes just months after conservation group <a href="https://mercyforanimals.org/" target="_blank">Mercy For Animals</a> and the <a href="http://www.bandeathnets.com/" target="_blank">Ban Death Nets</a> coalition released grisly undercover footage showing the harmful impact of driftnet fishing on marine life.
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Mercy For Animals celebrated the vote and urged Gov. Brown to join other governments that have outlawed the nets. "California is the last remaining U.S. state to allow driftnets, which have already been phased out off the U.S. East Coast and banned by Oregon and Washington states, the United Nations, and countries around the world," the group stated on their
<a href="https://mercyforanimals.org/breaking-california-legislature-passes-bill" target="_blank">website</a>.
</p><p>
<a href="https://www.worldanimalprotection.us.org/" target="_blank">World Animal Protection</a> released a report highlighting that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/ghost-gear-oceans-2544526011.html" target="_blank">640,000 metric tons</a> of fishing nets are lost or discarded in our oceans each year, trapping and killing countless marine mammals, including endangered whales, seals and turtles. Shallow coral reef habitats also suffer further degradation from the gear, which can take up to 600 years to decompose.
</p><p>
Earlier this week, fishermen found roughly 300 dead
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-turtles" target="_blank">sea turtles</a> off the southern Pacific coast of Mexico. The olive ridley turtles, which Mexico classifies as being at risk of extinction, were entangled in an abandoned illegal fishing net.
</p><p>
Mexico's office of the federal attorney for environmental protection said the turtles were found in a 393-foot long net that is not approved for fishing, according to the
<a href="https://apnews.com/47b36719327f4aeca3ac0b8776c0990b/Mexico-says-300-sea-turtles-killed-in-illegal-fishing-net" target="_blank">Associated Press</a>.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="85c70" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="B3MQXA1576683801"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1035075197001506816" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">300 #Endangered #SeaTurtles Killed in Illegal Fishing Net Off Mexico's Pacific Coast #turtles https://t.co/JbrHkAUp54</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1035075197001506816">1535616132.0</a></blockquote></div>
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From Your Site Articles
- Lawsuit Filed to Protect Whales, Sea Turtles From Drowning in Drift ... ›
- Gillnet Fishing Blamed for Killing Up to 100 Baby Hammerhead ... ›
- Gill Nets Push Species to the Brink of Extinction ›
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Gillnet Fishing Blamed for Killing Up to 100 Baby Hammerhead Sharks in Honolulu
27 June 2018
Animals
Up to 100 hammerhead shark pups were found dead Tuesday morning near Keehi Lagoon in Honolulu. Experts suggested that gillnet fishing could be the culprit.
Authorities at the state's Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement have opened an investigation after the baby sharks were discovered by the La Mariana Sailing Club, according to local media.
<p>The Keehi Lagoon is known as a breeding ground for hammerhead sharks, but state officials said it is not natural for shark pups to be found ashore in such large numbers, the <a href="http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/06/26/breaking-news/up-to-100-hammerhead-shark-pups-found-dead-off-sand-island/" target="_blank">Star Advertiser</a> reported. </p><p>Andrew Rossiter, director of the Waikiki Aquarium, told Honolulu's <a href="https://www.khon2.com/news/local-news/nearly-100-dead-baby-hammerhead-sharks-found-along-sand-island/1265391715" target="_blank">KHON</a> that the young sharks were probably caught in a gillnet and then dumped on land by a fisherman.</p><p>"To breathe they have to keep moving, so once they're in the net for even two to three minutes, they're unable to breathe and they suffocate," he explained. </p><p>Rossiter said the state should have tougher laws to prevent such killings. </p><p>"When it's the pupping season and it's a pupping area, then maybe they should restrict or ban the use of gillnets just for a couple of weeks to give them a chance," he said.</p><p>Democrat Hawaii state Sen. Mike Gabbard, who co-sponsored a bill to ban synthetic gillnets, was devastated by the news. </p><p>"I'm sick to my stomach about what's happened today," Gabbard told KHON-TV. "It's really giving me the incentive to make sure that this bill gets passed in 2019."</p><p>The bill passed in the state Senate but has stalled in the House. </p><p>Gillnet fishing has been found to be <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/vaquita-gill-nets-2284882071.html">destructive to fish populations</a> and to other marine species that get caught as bycatch, particularly sharks. The UN's <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/v3210e/V3210E04.htm#ch2.3" target="_blank">Food and Agriculture Organization</a> (FAO) found roughly half of the sharks that are caught and sold were caught as bycatch in the high seas longline fisheries. Each year, tens of millions of sharks are caught as bycatch, according to estimates. </p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="e1902" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="QQN04P1576662878"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="997967673907662848" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">A Single Discarded Fishing Net Can Keep Killing for Centuries https://t.co/ESK4hZfkuA @SeaShepherd @Seasaver</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/997967673907662848">1526769009.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Taiwanese humpback dolphins. Center for Biological Diversity
The National Marine Fisheries Service protected rare Taiwanese humpback dolphins on Tuesday, listing the species as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act. The decision comes in response to a March 2016 petition from the Animal Welfare Institute, Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians seeking U.S. protections to help prevent the extinction of a population that now numbers fewer than 100 individuals.
<p>"These rare dolphins deserve every possible chance to escape extinction, and we are thrilled that the National Marine Fisheries Service has stepped up and given them the protections of the Endangered Species Act," said Taylor Jones, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species">endangered species</a> advocate for WildEarth Guardians. "A myriad of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dolphins">dolphin</a> species are at risk due to human activities, and we owe these intelligent creatures the best protections we can give them." </p><p>Taiwanese humpback dolphins are threatened by <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/gillnets">gillnet</a> fishing, pollution, boat traffic and development along Taiwan's densely populated west coast, including the proposed construction of large wind farms. An endangered listing will enable the U.S. to provide technical expertise and resources to support Taiwan in conserving the rare dolphin.</p><p>"This is good news that will help these rare dolphins avoid extinction. International cooperation is the key to saving certain critically endangered species," said Abel Valdivia, an ocean scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. "Now that U.S. officials have made the right call on this listing, they should immediately start working with Taiwan on a recovery plan. The Endangered Species Act is a powerful tool that can still save the Taiwanese humpback dolphin and other small cetaceans struggling to survive." </p><p>The Taiwanese humpback dolphin, also known as the Taiwanese white dolphin, is a biologically and culturally important subspecies of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin. In 2014 the National Marine Fisheries Service denied a previous petition to protect the Taiwanese humpback dolphin, concluding that the population was not distinct from the Chinese white dolphin, which swims in deeper waters closer to China's coastline. New taxonomy studies, however, conclude that the Taiwanese humpback dolphin is a distinct subspecies with unique characteristics, whose numbers continue to decline to alarmingly low levels. </p><p>"This is a major victory for the Taiwanese dolphin," said Tara Zuardo, Animal Welfare Institute senior wildlife attorney. "The Endangered Species Act will help enable the United States to provide the resources needed to help protect and conserve this imperiled population. We are grateful that the National Marine Fisheries Service recognized the need to take immediate action."</p><p>An estimated 50 percent to 80 percent of all life on Earth is found in the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">oceans</a>. More than half of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life">marine species</a> may be at risk of extinction by 2100 without significant <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> efforts. Despite this grave situation, the U.S. largely fails to protect marine species under the Endangered Species Act.</p><p>The Endangered Species Act is an effective safety net for imperiled species: It has prevented extinction for more than 90 percent of plants and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/animals/">animals</a> under its care. Scientists estimate that 227 species would have gone extinct by 2006 if not for its protections. Protecting species with global distributions can help focus U.S. resources toward enforcement of international regulations and recovery of the species.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="43cfe" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="NDANP41576662234"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="938938716336349185" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">First Ever Tagging of Amazon Dolphins to Boost Conservation Efforts https://t.co/JI7XW5GmFz @environmentca @ConservationOrg @ImageOfWildlife</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/938938716336349185">1512695409.0</a></blockquote></div>
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'Unprecedented Rescue Operation': Sea Shepherd Saves 25 Critically Endangered Totoabas at the Height of Spawning Season
01 April 2018
Popular
At 7:45 p.m. PST Monday, the Sea Shepherd vessel M/V SHARPIE came upon an illegal gillnet within the Vaquita Refuge in the Northern Sea of Cortez, Mexico. The gillnet was entangled in a longline. As the ship's crew began to separate the illegal fishing gear, they noticed live totoaba bass in the net, embarking on an unprecedented rescue operation.
It is the height of totoaba bass spawning season in the Upper Gulf of California, when the endangered fish migrate directly to an area inhabited by the vaquita porpoise. The vaquita is currently the most endangered marine mammal in the world, and continues to be threatened as bycatch in the illegal totoaba trade.
<p style="">Tensions are rising in the Upper Gulf of California. <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/poaching">Poachers</a> have become more aggressive towards Sea Shepherd vessels, using firearms to shoot down drones and incendiary objects to intimidate the crew. Thanks to the addition of armed Enforcement Agents, and an emboldened pact with Mexico's Environment and Fisheries Ministries, Federal Environmental Attorney's Office and Federal Police, security has drastically improved, allowing Sea Shepherd to continue its important work protecting the Vaquita Refuge.</p><p style="">The totoaba bass is highly sought after due to its valuable swim bladder. Much like <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/shark-fins">shark fins</a> or rhino horns, totoaba bladders are sold in Asian markets as medicinal quackery. One totoaba bladder can sell for upwards of $10,000 in Asia.<br>Although poachers in the Gulf of California see only a fraction of the street price, they do well by local standards, which has consequently pushed the vaquita porpoise to the brink of extinction as a tragic side effect.</p><p style="">All seemed normal the evening of March 25 as the Sea Shepherd <em>M/V Sharpie </em>patrolled the protected vaquita area looking for illegal activity. The ship's captain, Fanch Martin from France, spotted a net by deciphering the ship's sonar data, a new method developed by Sea Shepherd in recent months.</p><p style="">"It was a challenge to maintain the ship's position in the strong current while the crew pulled the net and saved the fish quickly and efficiently, while at the same time keeping the longline tight enough so it would not entangle my propeller," said Captain Fanch, adding, "The coordination of the crew and the authorities on board was intense. Everyone was involved and focused—it was an all hands on deck moment, and the crew did an amazing job, with the extraordinary outcome of saving every single totoaba in that net; this has never happened before."</p><p style="">The <em>M/V Sharpie's</em> bosun, Willie Hatfield, who coordinated the deck activities stated, "This is a quintessential moment for Operation Milagro, saving a whole school of spawning critically endangered totoaba at once means so much." After the two intense hours it took to save all the fish and remove the illegal fishing gear from the Sea of Cortez, he added. "As we were leaving, we saw a skiff coming to retrieve the net.</p><p style="">"Those fish were five minutes away from death and we saved them—it was a miracle."</p><p style="">Sea Shepherd operates two former Island Class U.S. Coast Patrol ships in the area protecting the vaquita as part of Operation Milagro IV, the <em>M/V Sharpie</em> and <em>M/V Farley Mowat</em>. Each ship hosts five enforcement officers from the government of Mexico on board, with the ability to make arrests, prevent poaching in the Refuge and assure the proper disposal of dead totoaba fish. The officers were essential in saving the totoaba, as they tirelessly helped the Sea Shepherd crew, both in keeping the fish alive while being freed from the net, and ensuring the vessel's safety from armed poachers.</p><p style="">To date, Sea Shepherd has removed 596 pieces of illegal fishing gear from the Sea of Cortez since starting its effort to protect the vaquita porpoise in 2015, saving 2661 animals in the process. That accounts for more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) of nets removed, which is the distance from Earth to outer space and the height of nine Everest mountains. Sea Shepherd works with members of its partner network to ensure these illegal nets will be recycled responsibly and never find their way back into the ocean.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="2a5ce" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="WL73ZL1576662935"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="976509319406645250" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Notorious Toothfish Poacher Arrested by Liberian Coast Guard, Assisted by Sea Shepherd https://t.co/4pFoQ8Q1xc… https://t.co/TB4JJUSd7B</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/976509319406645250">1521652939.0</a></blockquote></div>
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A manta ray in the South China Sea. Greg Asner / Divephoto.org
By Douglas McCauley and Paul DeSalles
(The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.)
1. U.S. Drops Out of Paris
In our 2015 ocean top 10 list, we celebrated the adoption of the Paris agreement as a monumental achievement for slowing the warming, acidification and deoxygenation of our global oceans. In 2017, remaining nations like Afghanistan, Nicaragua and Syria ratified the agreement, bringing the total number of ratifying nations to 171. But in a radical about-face of global leadership on climate action, the Trump administration officially declared that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris agreement, citing unfair impacts on the American economy.
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNDg3MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTQxOTU0NX0.2wsK3fEu4x8QzQswsiWusc3ZQ86i_ayCHntAmu8NbGI/img.jpg?width=980" id="962e5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="775a0e9442bd9c5e464d74359f02fe40" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">The Eiffel Tower in Paris</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Joe deSousa via <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/paris-eiffel-tower-149394/" target="_blank">Pexels</a></small></p><p><strong>2. Most Expensive Hurricane Season Ever</strong><br></p><p><strong></strong>Perhaps the most apropos follow-up to the item above on this top 10 list is <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes">hurricanes</a>. This year's hurricane season yielded a total of 17 named storms and 10 hurricanes in the Atlantic, with three Category 4 storms hitting the U.S. for the first time on record. In aggregate, disaster modelers assessed damages from 2017's hurricanes <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-26/the-most-expensive-u-s-hurricane-season-ever-by-the-numbers" target="_blank">at just over $200 billion</a>—the most expensive season on record for the U.S. While no single hurricane can be attributed directly to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/">climate change</a>, observed increases in overall hurricane activity and intensity in the Atlantic may be linked to climate change.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNDg3Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDAxMzA3OH0.JN2m0LhB_fgjX40IwleXrSbe8UeNh0M9H6-1LPlo7V0/img.jpg?width=980" id="d0a13" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c1486a9e59339abac29e66eba71bfa50" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Experimentally colored satellite image of Hurricane Irma as it passed the eastern end of Cuba on Sept. 8, 2017 <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/geocolor-image-of-hurricane-irma" target="_blank"></a></small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/geocolor-image-of-hurricane-irma" target="_blank">NOAA/CIRA</a></small></p><p><strong>3. Vaquita vs. Extinction</strong></p><p><strong></strong>2017 saw the launch of a <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/vaquitacpr-ends-capture-program-in-gulf-of-california-after-vaquita-dies-in-captivity/" target="_blank">bold and desperate collaborative plan</a>, VaquitaCPR, to save the very small and very endangered <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/vaquita">vaquita</a> porpoise from extinction. With perhaps only 30 vaquita (<em>Phocoena sinus</em>) left on Earth, VaquitaCPR spent months attempting to capture members of the elusive species with the aim of keeping them safe and perhaps breeding them in captivity until the danger of extinction had passed. But after the death of a captured vaquita, the VaquitaCPR team ended the program and called for renewed focus on enforcing a Mexican ban on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/gillnets">gillnets</a>, the leading cause of vaquita deaths in the animal's tiny home range in the upper Gulf of California.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNDg4My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDc1NDczOX0.TIoVtxYKZ3dpxB8Sfa-cbavCBU6qM7f2YA2uBLOgA1o/img.jpg?width=980" id="e91ee" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3312c003cfa7620460830c863380558d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">VaquitaCPR team members with a vaquita calf that had been taken into captivity and held in a floating sea pen </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">VaquitaCPR</small></p><p><strong>4. Plastic Pollution</strong><br></p><p><strong></strong>This year brought a number of notable advances in our understanding of how <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics">plastic</a> pollution is affecting our oceans, as well as a surge in action to address this growing threat to ocean health and human health. This summer, researchers produced the <a href="https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2017/018137/plastic-planet" target="_blank">first global assessment of all mass-produced plastics</a> ever manufactured. They concluded that a whopping 8 billion metric tons of virgin plastics have been produced to date. Perhaps even more alarmingly, they determined that only 9 percent of our global plastic waste is recycled, an issue that may be exacerbated by China's <a href="https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/10305-China-under-intense-pressure-to-relax-waste-ban" target="_blank">announcement this summer</a> that it would drastically curtail the import of plastics and other waste for recycling. On the bright side, <a href="https://qz.com/987468/removing-plastics-from-the-oceans-is-not-environmentalism-its-good-business/" target="_blank">philanthropists</a>, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/09/taking-on-the-plastic-straw-qa-with-adrian-grenier-actor-and-ocean-activist/" target="_blank">celebrities</a> and the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/03/un-launches-campaign-to-take-out-ocean-trash/" target="_blank">United Nations</a> created a series of exciting campaigns to reduce single-use plastics and <a href="https://newplasticseconomy.org/innovation-prize" target="_blank">innovation prizes</a> to reduce plastic waste. On the policy side, 2017 also saw California ban carry-out plastic bags, many states in Malaysia ban Styrofoam products, and Kenya enforced a nationwide ban on plastic bags.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNDg4Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzkyMjM4MH0.qyibqV6qgiPvKYIR_dcTBuSu-KIjRycrHtgGONjiy-A/img.jpg?width=980" id="0c11a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="92b82266d289b0cd06cd90297afc7440" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">A sculpture made of plastic trash collected from beaches, on exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, in 2015 </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea / Smithsonian's National Zoo / Flickr</small></p><p><strong>5. Iceberg A-68</strong></p><p><strong></strong>At some point between <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/massive-iceberg-breaks-off-from-antarctica" target="_blank">July 10 and 12, 2017</a>, a chunk of ice weighing more than a trillion metric tons <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/antarcticas-larsen-c-calves-giant-6000-square-kilometer-iceberg/" target="_blank">broke free</a> from the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antarctica">Antarctic</a> Peninsula. While this particular calving event did not raise the sea level, there is great interest in what events like this may mean for the future of the Antarctic ice sheet and global <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise">sea-level rise</a>. It remains to be seen whether the calving of the iceberg known as A-68 is a "normal" calving event or if it instead foretells the weakening or collapse of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/larsen-c">Larsen C</a> ice shelf to which it was once attached.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNDg5My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNjc5OTA1NX0.v259-lABCC7EpdcnCNvs49G4oznes4-TTGxbIzTkvBE/img.png?width=980" id="4ff60" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="11b345d034c5ea7dbeca9fe48ccfc8c0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">On July 12, 2017, the Landsat 8 satellite's Thermal Infrared Sensor captured this false-color image of iceberg A-68 breaking away from Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf. Orange shows the warmest areas, particularly the crack between the iceberg and the ice shelf.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."><a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=90574" target="_blank">NASA</a></small></p><p><strong>6. Spying on Coral Reef Destruction</strong><br></p><p><strong></strong>In a year of yin and yang, marine researchers made exciting advances in our technological capacity to observe from space how people are impacting oceans, and in so doing learned more about just how dire the scope is. In <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/03/military-base-building-destroys-coral-reefs-in-the-south-china-sea/" target="_blank">one notable 2017 study</a>, for example, researchers developed techniques to use flocks of new <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/flotilla-tiny-satellites-will-photograph-entire-earth-every-day" target="_blank">shoebox-size satellites</a> and documented that military base construction in parts of the South China Sea had led to the reduction of regional <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coral-reefs">coral reefs</a> by up to 70 percent.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNDkxMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2Mjc5MzQxMH0.2FY3ww9lpaUI6TdUv69BH-EcS3xjDwRsB7CoEAT3n3w/img.jpg?width=980" id="7c420" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ed05fa9a651b5ab789e248392e9b691d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Layang Layang Atoll, Spratly Islands, South China Sea</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Greg Asner / <a href="http://divephoto.org/" target="_blank">Divephoto.org</a><span></span></small></p><p><strong>7. First Large-Scale Seabed Mining</strong></p><p><strong></strong>This was also the year that humans broke ground on the <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/09/26/national/japan-successfully-undertakes-large-scale-deep-sea-mineral-extraction/#.Wjmw09-nHIU" target="_blank">world's first large-scale mineral extraction project</a> in the ocean. The project, led by Japan, was launched 70 nautical miles (130 kilometers) from the island of Okinawa at a depth of about 1,600 meters (5,250 feet) near an inactive hydrothermal vent. Japan plans to begin commercially mining this site for ore that includes zinc, gold, copper and lead by 2020. The activities of mining vessels associated with this project, along with all seabed mining exploration worldwide, can now be <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/wildtech/2016/10/new-tool-lets-anyone-find-out-if-deep-sea-mining-is-happening-in-their-ocean-backyard/" target="_blank">tracked online</a>. Also of note this year, the International Seabed Authority made important advances in developing a global Mining Code for the high seas, taking the world a step closer to bringing full-scale seabed mining into international waters.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNDkxNC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNTA3NTE2M30.QUOG8tcBIwpgu0HFgevXM5i0wHCQvZrgMGrDrzl3ee4/img.png?width=980" id="70b22" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3ee7ffc8c4de47e868cdcb6059f5d1ce" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Okinawa, Japan</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Google Maps</small></p><p><strong>8. Arctic Fishing Ban</strong><br></p><p><strong></strong>Historically, thick ice has prevented commercial fishing in the central Arctic Ocean. However, recent accelerated loss of summer <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-ice">sea ice</a> has raised questions about the future of fishing in these delicate polar regions. In a prescient move, nine countries and the European Union <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/12/nations-agree-ban-fishing-arctic-ocean-least-16-years" target="_blank">agreed in late November 2017</a> to make the central Arctic Ocean off-limits to fishing for at least 16 years until more can be learned about the ecology and sensitivity of potential fisheries in the region.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNDkyMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MDM3OTEzMn0.o6-SGjC8J9vQj3oCCp2rlNWcL9ycpSMh85IWPjGQ5Zc/img.jpg?width=980" id="82932" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cd33f908de41e43ef71cd8a6dd2dffc4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p><strong>9. New Mega Marine Parks</strong></p><p><strong></strong>Another bright spot in 2017 ocean news was the establishment of massive protected areas in the ocean. Mexico created a protected area larger than Greece around a series of volcanic islands in the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/huge-new-ocean-reserves-announced-in-mexico-arctic/" target="_blank">Revillagigedo Archipelago</a> that host manta rays, sharks and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-turtles">sea turtles</a>. The government of Chile and the people of Rapa Nui confirmed the establishment this year of an even larger marine protected area, roughly the size of the Chilean mainland, that was <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/10/chile-announces-one-of-the-largest-marine-parks-in-the-world-off-the-coast-of-easter-island/" target="_blank">first announced in 2015</a>. And the Mongolia-size Ross Sea Marine Protected Area near Antarctica, established in 2016, came into force on Dec. 1.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNDkyMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDI5OTAyMH0.ETn54CZCPQJBS8oQBq6TV6eiBIndTIIZHfmk7Owo_88/img.jpg?width=980" id="f04e5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e5a1e700509f6c86da0017e430849ea4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Humpback whales off the Revillagigedo Islands near Mexico</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">The Pew Charitable Trusts</small></p><p><strong>10. Steps Toward a High-Seas Treaty</strong></p><p><strong></strong>This year saw the United Nations take promising steps toward safeguarding marine life on the high seas, the immense stretches of open water beyond countries' jurisdictions that comprise two-thirds of global oceans. In July, a UN planning committee <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/un-moves-one-step-closer-to-convening-high-seas-treaty-negotiations/" target="_blank">officially recommended that treaty negotiations begin</a>. To close out 2017, on Dec. 24 the body <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/un-general-assembly-adopts-resolution-to-move-forward-with-high-seas-treaty-negotiations/" target="_blank">resolved to kick off the treaty-negotiation process</a> and planned a series of four meetings between 2018 and mid-2020. The treaty's final text is anticipated by late 2020. Hopefully this process will lead to the adoption of improved strategies and the creation of new policy tools, such as internationally sanctioned protected areas, that will help protect high-seas <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a>.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNDkyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTY0MTY5OX0.9tmNBu6Nu5kbNQmQhOF4bpEEvOJdgvntcjMVXo_ushY/img.jpg?width=980" id="d072d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3130a2e87d5510ac56bd61e344e6c9ca" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Clouds over the Atlantic Ocean</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clouds_over_the_Atlantic_Ocean.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a> (<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en" target="_blank">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>)</small></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/2017s-top-10-ocean-news-stories/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>
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Christy Williams / WWF
It's been a big year for conservation.
Together we assured the world that the U.S. is still an ally in the fight against climate change through the We Are Still In movement, a coalition of more than 2,500 American leaders outside of the federal government who are still committed to meeting climate goals. WWF's activists met with legislators to voice their support for international conservation funding. And we ensured that Bhutan's vast and wildlife-rich areas remain protected forever through long-term funding.
<p style="">As 2017 comes to a close, we're taking a moment to highlight some of our biggest conservation successes of the year. And we couldn't have done it without your support.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" style="">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNjkzMjQzOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjMyOTA3M30.2nnfB0PX_tYYBM92q9OQX02MRgRAD6kIy631IR7kF14/img.jpg?width=980" id="62be9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="274f2e7d21e52c4e2852929fbd7e9cc5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">RoschetzkyProductions / Shutterstock</small></p><p style=""><strong><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/state-local-and-business-leaders-will-continue-to-support-us-climate-action-to-meet-the-paris-agreement" target="_blank">State, local, and business leaders continue to support U.S. climate action to meet the Paris agreement</a>.</strong></p><p style="">Leaders across the U.S. economy reaffirmed their commitment to climate action despite the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> administration's decision to pull out of an unprecedented and essential international agreement to curb climate change.</p><p style=""><strong><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/mexico-commits-to-critical-measures-to-save-the-vaquita" target="_blank">Mexico committed to critical measures to save the vaquita</a>.</strong></p><p style="">The government of Mexico announced a permanent ban on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/gillnets">gillnets</a> in the Upper Gulf of California—a fantastic and encouraging step forward on the path to save the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/vaquita">vaquita</a>.</p><p style=""><strong><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/supporters-help-wwf-launch-emergency-plan-to-stop-myanmar-s-elephant-poaching-crisis" target="_blank">Supporters helped WWF launch an emergency plan to stop Myanmar's elephant poaching crisis</a>.</strong></p><p style="">Amid a dire poaching crisis, wild Asian <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/elephants">elephants</a> in Myanmar received swift and essential aid from thousands of WWF supporters committed to protecting this iconic species. More than 3,000 people donated $263,211 in less than four weeks to fund an emergency action plan to train rangers and get boots on the ground to fight wildlife crime.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" style="">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNjkzMjQ5MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTM5NzI4OX0.zqTS18p5n_5qR2LXVIOFGRJOp2zK_95TyVith4rVJL0/img.jpg?width=980" id="4e138" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="eeca92263165cbc6ce6bec578fa148b9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">WWF-US / Keith Arnold</small></p><p style=""><strong><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/why-i-marched" target="_blank">WWF staff and supporters stood up for conservation at the People's Climate March</a>.</strong></p><p style="">More than 1,000 WWF activists—including more than 200 staff—joined 200,000 marchers in Washington, DC, to show they support strong action on climate change. WWF Panda Ambassadors and staff held sister marches across the country in cities including Dallas, Long Beach, Seattle, Portsmouth, Chicago and San Diego.</p><p style=""><strong><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/on-lobby-day-wwf-activists-head-to-capitol-hill-to-engage-leaders-on-conservation-issues" target="_blank">WWF activists made their mark on Capitol Hill by engaging leaders on conservation issues</a>.</strong></p><p style="">Through more than 60 face-to-face meetings on Lobby Day 2017, our activists shared with key legislators their concerns and hopes on topics ranging from stopping wildlife trafficking to tackling climate change.</p><p style=""><strong><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/wwf-works-with-walmart-to-cut-carbon-emissions-and-fight-climate-change" target="_blank">WWF and Walmart embarked on a new effort to cut carbon pollution</a>.</strong></p><p style="">WWF and Walmart are working together to cut carbon pollution and curb some of the worst impacts of climate change to protect people and wildlife at risk with Project Gigaton.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" style="">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNjkzMjQ5My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMjA3NTU3NH0.J1ZuVkFBRAJTQigw0DNPEH6DWFsSce-LkVUBuvr_THY/img.jpg?width=980" id="27bc6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="51e3ce9f941f9f636cca7ee6fc480dd7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Day's Edge / WWF-US</small></p><p style=""><strong><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/wwf-supporters-raise-more-than-250-000-to-help-bison-in-badlands-national-park" target="_blank">WWF supporters raised more than $250,000 to help bison in Badlands National Park</a>.</strong></p><p style="">In early March, nearly 2,500 people donated a total of $256,512 to extend <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bison">bison</a> habitat at the park from 57,640 acres to 80,193 acres. This will allow the park to achieve and sustain a herd of more than 1,000 bison, and will allow more park visitors to see and learn about the U.S. national mammal.</p><p style=""><strong><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/reducing-china-s-environmental-footprint" target="_blank">WWF and Apple are working together to protect China's forests</a>.</strong></p><p style="">In July, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certificates were awarded for more than 320,000 acres of forest land in southern China. Nearly two-thirds of the land is owned and managed by one private company, Maoyuan Company. The remainder is owned and managed by Guangxi Qinlian Forestry Company, a state government entity. The land includes semi-natural <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/forests">forests</a> and forest plantations<em>.</em></p><p style=""><strong><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/hotel-industry-teams-up-with-world-wildlife-fund-and-the-rockefeller-foundation-to-reduce-food-waste" target="_blank">WWF teamed up with hotels to reduce their food waste</a>.</strong></p><p style="">WWF began working with the American Hotel & Lodging Association and its member hotels to reduce <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/food-waste">food waste</a>. Starting with 10 hotel properties, WWF and AHLA tested waste-reduction strategies, including low-waste menu planning, staff training and education, and customer engagement. Overall, participating properties reduced food waste by at least 10 percent, and lowered food costs by three to five percent.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" style="">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNjkzMjQ5OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjg3Njg1Nn0._Ljs0sIW4Gv55rOO3etleaBoxoCn4YIirkT5OB4tRHg/img.jpg?width=980" id="419c3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c1a0edd7ee3fa5020048ae2df677e90b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Emmanuel Rondeau / WWF-UK</small></p><p style=""><strong><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/creating-a-future-for-healthy-forests-in-bhutan" target="_blank">Creating a future of forests in Bhutan</a>.</strong></p><p style="">Bhutan is one of the most important players in the global fight against climate change. Bhutan's ranking in this regard is due to it being the only country in the world to commit to remaining carbon neutral, meaning it absorbs as much carbon dioxide as it emits into the atmosphere. And now Bhutan has a great means for bringing that commitment to life—long-term funding to ensure its protected areas, which cover half of the country, are properly managed forever. It is the first <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/permanently-protecting-forests" target="_blank">initiative of its kind</a> in Asia and one of only a few in the world.</p><p style=""><strong><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/for-the-first-time-wwf-and-partners-tag-river-dolphins-in-the-amazon-to-boost-conservation-efforts" target="_blank">For the first time ever, WWF and partners tagged Amazon river dolphins to boost conservation efforts</a>.</strong></p><p style="">WWF and research partners are now tracking river <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dolphins">dolphins</a> in the Amazon using satellite technology after scientists successfully tagged dolphins in Brazil, Colombia and Bolivia. The small transmitters safely attached to the dolphins will provide new insights into the animals' movements and behavior, along with the growing threats they face.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image" style="">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNjkzMjQ5OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNTAyNjM5MX0.Jrfkbi9iME2Dhf3sfypHXmSHa_DgXvl41UCFa3XMXIo/img.jpg?width=980" id="ded67" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9f1eaae4f6f74a222bf1ef82894bb79d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Jaime Rojo/WWF-US</small></p><p style=""><strong><a href="http://www.theconsumergoodsforum.com/press_releases/twenty-three-global-companies-pledge-to-helping-tackle-soy-driven-deforestation-in-brazils-cerrado/" target="_blank">Some of the world's largest food companies announced they'll help halt deforestation in the Cerrado</a>.</strong></p><p style="">For more than 30 years, the Amazon has been the poster-forest for the environmental movement. And <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation">deforestation</a> in the Amazon is largely slowing down. Unfortunately, however, the Cerrado continues to lose ground to expanding beef and soy production, plus other commodities and infrastructure. In fact, losses in the Cerrado have been greater than those in the Amazon for the past decade.</p><p style=""><strong><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/projects/the-global-mangrove-alliance-uniting-to-conserve-and-restore-valuable-coastal-forests" target="_blank">The Global Mangrove Alliance united to conserve and restore valuable coastal forests</a>.</strong></p><p style="">WWF teamed up with <a href="https://www.conservation.org" target="_blank">Conservation International</a>, the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/" target="_blank">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a>, and the <a href="https://www.nature.org/" target="_blank">Nature Conservancy</a> to form the Global Mangrove Alliance. The alliance is an initiative to reverse the loss of critically important mangrove habitats worldwide. The target is ambitious: to expand the global extent of mangrove habitat 20 percent by the year 2030.</p>
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Floating sea pen designed to hold captured vaquitas. Kerry Coughlin / National Marine Mammal Foundation
By Mike Gaworecki
Last month, the government of Mexico launched a last-ditch effort to save the critically endangered vaquita, a small porpoise known to reside only in the Gulf of California.
A team of marine mammal experts assembled by the Mexican government created a project called Vaquita Conservation, Protection and Recovery (VaquitaCPR) that aims to capture the remaining 30 vaquitas (Phocoena sinus) and keep them safe in specially built floating "sea pens" until the species' survival is no longer threatened by the illegal trade and fishing activities that have driven them to the brink of extinction.
<p style=""><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/first-vaquita-rescued-2501804421.html">Late last month</a>, scientists with VaquitaCPR <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/first-vaquita-rescued-in-bid-to-save-the-porpoise-from-extinction/" target="_blank">took the first of the marine mammals into captivity</a>. Though the 6-month-old calf became so stressed by its capture that the team quickly chose to release it back into the wild, Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, a scientist with the Mexican government who heads the VaquitaCPR program, suggested that the fact that they were able to successfully find and capture a vaquita at all was an encouraging sign.</p>
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</p><div id="b2cf4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="KCW3861576662234"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="924021700915757058" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">First Vaquita Rescued in Bid to Save the Porpoise From Extinction https://t.co/QLjiU41Y8P @environmentca @ImageOfWildlife</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/924021700915757058">1509138915.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p style="">This past weekend, however, it was <a href="https://www.vaquitacpr.org/vaquitacpr-field-operations-update/" target="_blank">announced</a> that another vaquita—a breeding-age female—was taken into captivity and subsequently died.<br></p><p style="">"A mature female vaquita, not pregnant or lactating, had been caught and transported successfully late in the afternoon on Saturday in the Northern Gulf of California and was taken to a specially-modified floating sea pen known as El Nido, or The Nest," according to a <a href="https://www.vaquitacpr.org/vaquitacpr-field-operations-update/" target="_blank">statement</a> from VaquitaCPR. "From the moment of capture, the vaquita was under constant care and observation for its health and safety."</p><p style="">Marine mammal veterinarians that were monitoring the vaquita determined that it, too, had become stressed, to the point that its condition was deteriorating enough that once again the call was made to release the animal.</p><p style="">"The release attempt was unsuccessful and life saving measures were administered," VaquitaCPR reported. "Despite the heroic efforts of the veterinary team, the vaquita did not survive."</p><p style="">The vaquita population has been decimated by gillnet fishing in the Gulf of California, though they are only an incidental bycatch. The true target of the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/gillnets">gillnets</a> is another <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22003/0" target="_blank">critically endangered</a> species, the totoaba (<em>Totoaba macdonaldi</em>), whose swim bladders are in high demand in some Asian countries, especially China, where they are believed to have medicinal benefits. Despite the lack of scientific evidence showing that the swim bladders (also known as maws) have any medical properties whatsoever, they can fetch prices more than $9,000 per pound.</p><p>So lucrative is the illegal trade in totoaba maws that organized crime syndicates are getting involved, according to a recent report that concluded the trafficking of the swim bladders <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/recent-report-totoaba-trafficking-a-conservation-and-security-problem/" target="_blank">has become a security issue in addition to a conservation problem</a>.</p><p>Though they aren't the primary target species, vaquita become entangled in the gillnets all the same, causing them to drown.</p><p style="">Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto announced a two-year gillnet ban throughout the vaquita's range in the Upper Gulf of California in April 2015, as well as enhanced enforcement of the ban by a multi-agency task force led by the Mexican Navy and compensation for fishermen and other industries that might lose income due to the ban. A permanent ban on gillnet fishing went into effect in July 2017, but the practice continues more or less unabated today.</p><p style="">In response to the death of the breeding-age female this past weekend, some environmentalists are calling for VaquitaCPR's capture program to be shut down immediately, saying it is too risky an endeavor given how few of the porpoises are left.</p><p style="">For instance, the <a href="https://awionline.org/" target="_blank">Animal Welfare Institute</a> (AWI) said in a <a href="https://awionline.org/content/awi-statement-vaquitacpr-program-needs-end" target="_blank">statement</a> that, though VaquitaCPR was born "out of a desperate, yet well-intentioned, desire to save the species, we believe that given the extreme risks involved, the vaquita capture plans must be brought to an immediate halt. These tiny porpoises do not respond well to the stress of capture, and not a single additional vaquita should be deliberately put in danger in this way."</p><p style="">Instead, AWI said, the Mexican government should further increase enforcement efforts throughout the Upper Gulf of California in order to bring an end to illegal gillnet fishing once and for all. The ban on gillnets issued by Mexico, AWI noted, provides exemptions for the area's corvina and Spanish mackerel gillnet fisheries, and does not prohibit the manufacture, sale or possession of the nets.</p><p>"Unless illegal fishing is ended through rigorous and stepped-up enforcement, and gillnets can no longer be found in the Upper Gulf, the regulations of the ban will remain inadequate to save the vaquita from extinction," AWI said.</p><p style="">Requests for comment from VaquitaCPR were not immediately returned. But, in the statement announcing the death of the female vaquita this past weekend, VaquitaCPR noted that "The risk of losing a vaquita during field operations was always acknowledged as a possibility, but it was determined that it was unacceptable to stand by and watch the vaquita porpoise disappear without a heroic attempt at rescue."</p><p style="">Together with Mexican government officials and an independent panel created specifically for this purpose, VaquitaCPR's scientists said in the statement that they will "carefully review the events of the past 24 hours and determine how best to proceed."</p><p style=""> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/breeding-age-female-vaquita-dies-after-being-taken-into-captivity/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p><p style=""><strong>RECOMMENDED</strong><br></p><p style=""><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/salmon-chinook-sierra-2507519718.html" target="_self">Where Have All the Salmon Gone?</a></p><p style=""><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/meet-pangolin-men-2507150741.html" target="_self">Meet the 'Pangolin Men' Saving the World's Most Trafficked Mammal</a></p>
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A short-finned pilot whale hangs lifelessly in a California drift gillnet. NOAA
The Trump administration proposed a rule Tuesday to federalize regulation of drift gillnets used to catch swordfish on the West Coast. The rule would end California's right to prevent the deadly entanglements of sea turtles, whales and dolphins in these underwater, mile-long nets.
The Obama administration last year proposed a rule that would shut down the fishery for two years if two large whales or sea turtles were harmed by the nets, but the Trump administration withdrew that proposed rule in June. Legislation to phase out drift gillnets was introduced in California in 2014 and 2016, and the new federal rule would preempt such efforts in the future.
<p style="">"The Trump administration is seizing control of this fishery to stymie efforts to protect sea turtles, whales and dolphins from these deadly nets," said Catherine Kilduff, a senior attorney with the <a href="http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/">Center for Biological Diversity</a>. "This cynical move perpetuates the status quo. Leatherback sea turtles, humpback whales and sperm whales have to dodge this dirty fishery when they need to feed in the rich waters off California." </p><p style="">The new proposal to federalize oversight was recommended in March by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, which manages fisheries in California, Oregon and Washington. The recommendation <a href="http://www.pcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/J6b_Sup_PubCom_Mar2017BB.pdf" target="_blank">was opposed</a> by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) and a coalition of more than 15 environmental groups, including Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Center for Biological Diversity.</p><p style="">"Trump's move to federalize the drift gillnet fishery is irresponsible and puts reasonable resource management and the well-being of our ocean ecosystem at serious risk," said Cassie Burdyshaw, advocacy and policy director at <a href="https://seaturtles.org/" target="_blank">Turtle Island Restoration Network</a>. "Drift gillnets are walls of death that need to be phased out, not shielded from reasonable state regulations."</p>
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