Welcome to 2020: 8 Important Environmental Stories to Follow This Year
05 January
Insights + Opinion
Watching the sun rise at Cosumnes River Preserve. Bob Wick / Bureau of Land Management California / Flickr / Public Domain
By John R. Platt and Tara Lohan
Let's be honest, 2019 was a rough year for the planet. Despite some environmental victories along the way, we saw the extinction crisis deepen, efforts to curtail climate change blocked at almost every turn, and the oceans continue to warm. We also heard new revelations about ways that plastics and chemicals harm our bodies, saw the political realm become even more polarized, and experienced yet another round of record-breaking temperatures.
<p>So what should we expect for 2020? Here are eight of the big environmental topics we think will capture headlines in the year ahead.</p>
<p> <em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/environmental-stories-follow-2020/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em><em></em></p>
1. The Poster Child of the Extinction Crisis
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjQ4NDQ5NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjkyMTI1Mn0.Hg4h4TvduITsOlry7kUZ1ThmXOUwNkYy_W9qF0PEWoA/img.jpg?width=980" id="f9f22" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d1fdeb3094743dc117ca37f437baebc6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Tom Jefferson / NOAA Fisheries West Coast
<p>We expect to see a wide range of endangered species in the news this coming year, but few will face threats so urgently as the vaquita porpoise (<em>Phocoena sinus</em>).</p><p><span></span>As we've written here before, <a href="https://therevelator.org/saving-vaquita-new-promises-threats/" target="_blank">the vaquita is in perilous territory</a>, with a population of as few as 10 now remaining. The good news is that scientists recently observed adult vaquitas with two newborn calves, so they're still finding each other and breeding. The bad news is that Mexico has failed in its promises to keep fishermen and illegal gillnets off the water, so the pressures on this species continue to rise.</p><p>We anticipate that 2020 will show whether human beings will let this species go extinct in full view of the world or step up to save it.</p>2. The Supreme Court
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjQ4NDQ5NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMTI2NjM3OX0.7YiKhoT7mUFRR-eaQDuk5Ex6Gstf1qTA0ngqwY9UI8c/img.jpg?width=980" id="c880c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8f3693f29675138f3a231276b052d806" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Mark Fisher / CC BY-SA 2.0
<p>The lasting impact of the Trump administration may soon be felt in the courts, especially in the Supreme Court, where Brett Kavanaugh has made clear his devotion to the "less is more" principles of government espoused by the Federalist Society.</p><p><span></span>If the Society and Kavanaugh get their way, the federal government could lose much of its ability to allow agencies like the EPA to regulate…well, anything. As Ian Millhiser wrote recently in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/11/26/20981758/brett-kavanaughs-terrify-democrats-supreme-court-gundy-paul" target="_blank"><em>Vox</em></a>:</p><blockquote><em>"It's impossible to exaggerate the importance of this issue. Countless federal laws, from the Clean Air Act to the Affordable Care Act, lay out a broad federal policy and delegate to an agency the power to implement the details of that policy. Under Kavanaugh's approach, many of these laws are unconstitutional, as are numerous existing regulations governing polluters, health providers, and employers."</em></blockquote><p>The conservative wing of the Supreme Court currently holds the majority, and that's not likely to change anytime soon (<a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/zmj9bw/mitch-mcconnell-is-about-to-steamroll-democrats-with-another-30-conservative-judges-before-the-end-of-the-year" target="_blank">thanks, Mitch McConnell</a>), so we expect this issue to rear its ugly head sooner rather than later, and well beyond the next presidential election.</p>3. Climate Change: Peak or Panic?
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjQ4NDQ4Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzODc2ODcyMX0.A6ZESFo_Iec4agzMiqExonTfALLfYT8UCYmgfiX2oT0/img.jpg?width=980" id="c6d51" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="99d2cfa7c0e5c73ec8cf440d49e5dcae" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Greta Thunberg at a climate change rally in Denver, Colorado, 2019. Anthony Quintano / CC BY 2.0
<p>Will we experience a true climate tipping point this year? If so, which way will it tip?</p><p>On the one hand, people are clamoring more and more loudly for climate action, with activists like Greta Thunberg leading the charge.</p><p>On the other hand, the most recent UN climate change conference (COP25) was…a bit of a disappointing failure, thanks in no small part to the fact that <a href="https://heated.world/p/the-corporate-takeover-of-cop25?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo2OTQzNzgsInBvc3RfaWQiOjE5NDgzNCwiXyI6IlhialBOIiwiaWF0IjoxNTc2MTA1NDg5LCJleHAiOjE1NzYxMDkwODksImlzcyI6InB1Yi0yNDczIiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.ApMI4Uj7KLtN04V95wSCqGAV7kg9-AA-h52ym8KGEK4" target="_blank">the fossil fuel industry <em>sponsored </em>much of the event</a>.</p><p>Still, we're going to see a lot of new data and science come out this year, and we may find out if the efforts we've already started making have paid off yet. One noteworthy example: The coal industry is in the process of dying a slow death, so even though total worldwide emissions are up, coal emissions are headed down.</p><p>What does that mean? According to the experts, this could be the year greenhouse gas emissions peak or flatline — or they could start climbing even more. It's up to us.</p><div id="a34e0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="LX3JYR1578244525"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1202297286874648576" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Good thread.
Here’s my take:
Emissions are still climbing, but now climbing at a very slow rate — and it could… https://t.co/8xTZIj1J6U</div> — Dr. Jonathan Foley (@Dr. Jonathan Foley)<a href="https://twitter.com/GlobalEcoGuy/statuses/1202297286874648576">1575484985.0</a></blockquote></div>
4. Drinking Water
<p>After the federal government dropped the ball in 2019, we expect to see another push this year for meaningful action to limit the harm caused by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — the suite of toxic "forever chemicals" that stubbornly don't break down in the environment or our bodies.</p><p>PFAS are found in thousands of consumer and industrial products, including nonstick pans, waterproof clothing, stain-resistant furniture, food wrappers, personal care goods and firefighting foam. They've been linked to cancer, liver damage and reproductive and immune-system problems. Millions of Americans are believed to be drinking water contaminated with PFAS, including the residents of <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/2019/07/14/heres-an-updated-map-of-military-sites-where-dod-found-cancer-causing-chemicals-in-the-drinking-water/" target="_blank">175 military installations</a>, and the dangerous chemicals have been found in soil and food, too.</p><p>After federal agencies did nothing substantial on the issue, it looked like there might be congressional action. But language that would have required the EPA to set a drinking-water standard for PFAS and for the federal government to aid in cleaning polluted areas was <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/12/10/pfas-trump-defense-authorization-bill/4383945002/" target="_blank">dropped from the National Defense Authorization Act</a> in December. Democrats have vowed to take up the issue again this year, and advocates want to see a federal standard strict enough to protect public health. We expect vigorous discussions and more than a few worries along the way.</p>5. Ocean Action
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjQ4NDQ4NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDEwNzA4Nn0.ABl1YZH8dEik-BmIMhl9p95hmmcmnOkdxtNv-NegNZ0/img.jpg?width=980" id="171db" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b25f8b2403df236507cce6cfbd8dbdcb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Ocean Biology Processing Group at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center / public domain
<p>In 2019 we got serving after serving of bad news about how climate change is warming waters, driving <a href="https://www.iucn.org/news/marine-and-polar/201912/marine-life-fisheries-increasingly-threatened-ocean-loses-oxygen-iucn-report" target="_blank">oxygen loss</a> and increasing <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/09/25/755859707/earths-oceans-are-getting-hotter-and-higher-and-it-s-accelerating" target="_blank">sea level rise</a> in the ocean — threatening <a href="https://ipbes.net/news/ipbes-global-assessment-preview" target="_blank">biodiversity</a>, fisheries and coastal communities.</p><p>This year we could see some steps toward solutions.</p><p>Drawing on language from the much-discussed Green New Deal for equitable environmental action, ocean advocates in 2019 <a href="https://grist.org/article/the-big-blue-gap-in-the-green-new-deal/" target="_blank">called for a Blue New Deal</a> — a comprehensive plan for protecting our oceans and coastal communities. Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren picked up the gauntlet before the year closed out, <a href="https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/blue-new-deal?source=soc-WB-ew-tw-rollout-20191210" target="_blank">releasing her own</a> Blue New Deal that would expand marine protected areas, end offshore drilling, build more offshore renewable energy, reform flood insurance, boost fisheries and invest in regenerative ocean farming.</p><p>Expect to hear more about action on ocean protection this year, not just in the U.S. but internationally. After years of talks, the United Nations is set to finalize a <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/sea2118.doc.htm" target="_blank">global ocean treaty</a> in 2020, although there's a fear it will <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/24024/global-ocean-treaty-negotiations-at-the-un-greenpeace-response/" target="_blank">fall far short</a> of what's needed to thwart the biodiversity crisis.</p>6. Public Lands
<p>Many of the country's most remote and wild public lands face big threats this year, continuing the trend we've seen since the last presidential election. Two will remain particularly noteworthy.</p><p>One, the Forest Service is expected to finalize a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/10/24/772939221/trump-wants-to-exempt-tongass-national-forest-from-roadless-rule" target="_blank">Trump administration proposal</a> to lift the Roadless Area Conservation Rule for Alaska's <a href="https://therevelator.org/road-ruin-wild-places/" target="_blank">Tongass National Forest</a>. The rewrite, due this summer, could open millions of acres of old-growth forest and salmon spawning habitat to timber, mining and other development.</p><p>Two, the decades-long <a href="https://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1061708927" target="_blank">battle over drilling</a> continues in the <a href="https://therevelator.org/trump-drilling-alaska-arctic-refuge/" target="_blank">wildlife-rich and culturally important</a> Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A rider in a 2017 tax bill passed by the Republican-led Congress greenlighted two oil and gas lease sales in the refuge's coastal plain. The Trump administration is likely to hold those in 2020. It's unclear yet how interested oil companies will be, but a move to begin drilling in the refuge is staunchly opposed by Indigenous communities, environmental groups and the <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-oppose-drilling-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-2019/" target="_blank">majority of U.S. voters</a>.</p>7. Plastic Pollution
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjQ4NDQ4My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzUxMzc5M30.6r5_LPksr6WwHTp3wqVMsS2CpeLzJQvWWzykBGHBR-g/img.jpg?width=980" id="5c8b4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f5184089b6ac12309a674e2e15b30be8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />John Platt / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
<p>With pending legislation that aims to cut plastic waste 75 percent by 2030, California will take another run this year at passing a first-of-its-kind (in the United States) effort to hold companies that make plastic products <a href="https://therevelator.org/california-plastic-legislation/" target="_blank">accountable for their waste</a>. The bill stalled last year, but proponents will renew efforts in 2020.</p><p>They face stiff opposition from plastic and fossil fuel companies that are busy turning cheap fracked gas into more plastics. Petrochemical companies are planning a massive buildout of infrastructure in the <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/what-could-happen-if-a-9.4-billion-chemical-plant-comes-to-cancer-alley" target="_blank">Gulf coast</a> and the <a href="https://www.ehn.org/petrochemical-industry-ohio-river-2641494525.html" target="_blank">Ohio River Valley</a> to facilitate the production of more plastics, both at home and <a href="https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2019/10/02/shale-gas-off-ramp-pa-s-fracking-boom-produces-a-glut-of-ethane-thats-helping-fuel-plastics-production-overseas/" target="_blank">abroad</a>.</p><p><span></span>We expect to see continued efforts to inform consumers about their buying choices, but in the next year the fight against plastic pollution will be much less about straw bans and more about fighting the root causes and stopping it at the source.</p>8. The 2020 Election
<p>The upcoming presidential election will dominate the conversation in the coming months, but let's make sure to pay attention to every other race out there on the federal, state and local level. All these elections will add up — and collectively they could determine the future of just about every environmental issue listed above.</p><p>In other words: Stay tuned.</p>From Your Site Articles
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An illegally trafficked tiger skull and pelt. Ryan Moehring / USFWS
By John R. Platt
When it comes to solving problems related to wildlife trade, there are an awful lot of "sticky widgets."
<p>That's what Eli Weiss, founder of the WildiZe Foundation and host of the <a href="https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2129/our-wild-world" target="_blank">"Our Wild World" podcast</a>, calls some of the most pressing issues related to legal and illegal wildlife trafficking. These big questions — which often have no easy answers — include the fate of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/vaquita">nearly extinct vaquita</a>, the future of farmed <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/rhinos">rhinos</a>, the hidden threat to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/giraffes">giraffes</a>, and potential new roles for (and threats to) the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.</p><p>We discussed these issues — and a whole lot more — in a wide-ranging conversation on the podcast that aired Nov. 4. Check it out below:</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><p><video controls="controls" height="auto" playbackrate="1" poster="https://www.voiceamerica.com/content/images/host_images/011210/Weiss-player-wide.jpg" preload="none" src="https://cdn.voiceamerica.com/voice/011210/promo_weiss.mp3" width="100%"></video></p></div><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/podcast-wildlife-trade/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em><br></p>
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Recently sighted vaquita porpoises. Jay Barlow / Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Six months: That's how much time Mexico now has to report on its progress to save the critically endangered vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus) from extinction.
<p>It's a time-sensitive deadline. After years of decline, as few as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/six-endangered-vaquitas-left-2639611575.html" target="_self">6 to 19 vaquita</a>s survive in their only home, the Gulf of California. Also known as the Sea of Cortez, the gulf lies between mainland Mexico and Baja California — and the porpoises' population there has <a href="https://therevelator.org/last-vaquitas-dying-dead/" target="_blank">slowly but steadily been wiped</a> out over the past decade. First these gentle, blunt-faced porpoises were killed by shrimp fishermen, who accidentally caught the "sea cows" in their large gillnets. More recently they've fallen to poachers seeking a rare fish called the totoaba (<em>Totoaba mcdonaldi</em>).</p><p>Totoaba swim bladders sell for up to $20,000 each in China, where they're considered a delicacy and are used in traditional medicine. The bladders are frequently <a href="https://qz.com/1646387/smugglers-caught-with-3-7-million-of-endangered-totoaba-bladders/" target="_blank">smuggled through the U.S.</a> before heading to Asian consumer markets.</p><p>With transnational criminal cartels leading the totoaba poaching and distribution, and with time running out for vaquita, the future for both species "looks very bleak indeed," says Richard Thomas, global communications coordinator for TRAFFIC, an NGO focusing on wildlife trade.</p><p>Conservationists have urged Mexico to protect the vaquita for years, and the country and its allies have taken many steps along the way, but the species' population has continued to decline. As a result the international community has now finally put a bit of real pressure on the Mexican government. According to an agreement established this August at the <a href="https://cites.org/eng/cop/18/doc/index.php" target="_blank">18th triennial meeting</a> of the member parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), Mexico, in collaboration with the U.S. and China, must now work to eliminate both the supply and consumer demand for totoaba and support a program to remove destructive gillnets from the fishery in the Gulf of California. The three nations promised to meet about these goals in the next few months.</p><p>"Urgent measures include maintaining net-free zones, round-the-clock patrolling of these areas with removal of all gillnets — and protection for those carrying out these tasks — and arrest and prosecution of illegal fishers," says Thomas.</p><p>Mexico, meanwhile, must improve its enforcement of existing laws by Nov. 30 and report on its progress to the CITES Secretariat every six months. The first report will be due in early 2020.</p>
<div id="c84b3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="M4E9IS1576661315"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1166122796856090625" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Vaquita & #Totoaba #CITESCoP18 Mexico US & China agreed Parties would eliminate supply & demand & support gillnet… https://t.co/aOWfSJ5wsa</div> — Ivonne Higuero (@Ivonne Higuero)<a href="https://twitter.com/ivonnehiguero/statuses/1166122796856090625">1566860314.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"Mexico took this, I think, with a lot of commitment, but also wanted the other parties to recognize the efforts that have been done in the country as well," says Adrian Router, Latin American wildlife trafficking coordinator at the Wildlife Conservation Society. "It's not that Mexico had done nothing — there's a long, long list of things they have done — but obviously it's been insufficient."</p><p>If these new efforts don't roll out fast enough, or if vaquita continue to die, Mexico could conceivably face international sanctions that would prevent it from exporting some of its most profitable native plants or animals, specifically those species currently listed on what's known as CITES Appendix II.</p><p>CITES, an international treaty covering wildlife trade among 183 member nations, protects threatened species by placing them on two lists that regulate trade. The first, Appendix I, bans all international trade in endangered plants and animals. The second, Appendix II, allows trade, but only of specimens from proven-sustainable populations.</p><p>Blocking Mexico from legally exporting its Appendix II species — a step <a href="https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA-report-citess-last-chance-single-pages-for-print.pdf" target="_blank">advocated for</a> by several conservation organizations in the lead-up to CITES — is actually a pretty significant threat. More than <a href="https://therevelator.org/cites-appendix-ii-mexico/" target="_blank">2,300 Mexican plants and animals</a>appear on CITES Appendix II, including some coveted species and products such as bighorn sheep hunting trophies, mahogany wood and shark fins.</p><p>Other species on the list include boa constrictors, iguanas, corals, spider monkeys and dozens of kinds of orchid.</p><p>CITES sanctions, however, <a href="https://ensia.com/features/cites/" target="_blank">don't happen very often</a>. One of the few noteworthy examples occurred in 2013, when CITES threatened to sanction Thailand if the country didn't reduce the amount of illegal ivory for sale there. (The threat worked, by the way. The amount of ivory available in Bangkok markets dropped 96 percent by 2016.)</p><p>But progress for the vaquita will be much tougher to achieve because of the violent cartels dominating the trade. "The vaquita and the totoaba are a good example of how things can go really, really bad for biodiversity when the commodity is really high-value and organized crime gets involved," says Reuter.</p><p>"It's a big, big challenge," he adds. "As we know, the totoaba bladder trade involves transnational, highly organized networks. It's a high-value commodity. It requires actions being taken like for addressing any other serious crime committed by organized cartels and organizations. Sometimes that's difficult because it requires lots of resources, staff and coordination that — in many instances, not just in Mexico but in many other countries in the region — are not available to tackle environmental crimes."</p><p>With the time for action growing increasingly tight, will we see any progress on saving the vaquita from extinction? Reuter says he'll be watching to see what happens by the end of the year, especially to find out if the proposed meeting between Mexico, the United States and China actually takes place. "If it does, it would be a very good forum to follow up on what happened," he says.</p><p>Meanwhile there's both good news and a stark reminder about the need for action. Last month the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society reported that scientists had, over the course of a few weeks, <a href="https://phys.org/news/2019-09-scientists-near-extinct-vaquita-marinas.html" target="_blank">observed six vaquitas</a> in the Gulf of California, an important confirmation that the animals still exist. "It is excellent to see these vaquitas are well fed, plump and healthy looking," vaquita researcher Barbara Taylor said in a <a href="https://seashepherd.org/news/expedition-to-sight-critically-endangered-vaquita-porpoise-a-success/" target="_blank">press release</a>. "This invigorates the resolve for Mexico to protect their species."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTk5OTcyOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODQyNzYxNX0.LhI_urZP-89J-o0RBvN_WpOjx_W6wR7rr_YQKr-3M1U/img.jpg?width=980" id="3ee1d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="71ccd4d4c44d4a923299665a5ba85079" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Demonstrators with The Animal Welfare Institute hold a rally to save the vaquita, the world's smallest and most endangered porpoise, outside the Mexican Embassy in DC on July 5, 2018.
SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images
<p>Next, <a href="https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1204916/conservationists-fishermen-unsatisfied-mexicos-efforts-protect-endangered-porpoise" target="_blank">600 Mexican antipoaching troops</a> are scheduled to arrive in the region soon to enforce a "zero tolerance" fishing policy in the vaquita's habitat.</p><p>But those troops may find themselves in the midst of a renewed struggle with local fishermen. Mexico has paid shrimp fishermen to stay out of vaquita habitat since 2015, but those compensation funds reportedly stopped arriving last December, after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office. With fishermen now struggling to feed their families, their leaders say fleets could resume operation any day. "We know about the vaquita, and we've done what we can, but we have needs and we have to work," Lorenzo Garcia, president of the region's largest fishermen's federation, told <a href="https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1189691/without-government-aid-fishermen-return-vaquitas-habitat" target="_blank"><em>Fronteras</em></a>.</p><p>Even with the imminent arrival of Mexican soldiers, the resumption of gillnet shrimp fishing in the Gulf of California represents a major shift in vaquita conservation efforts. Will it push the tiny porpoises closer to disappearing? The world will be watching.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://therevelator.org/saving-vaquita-new-promises-threats/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Just 'Days' Left to Save 6 to 19 Remaining Vaquitas - EcoWatch ›
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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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- Vaquita Still Doomed Without Further Disruption of Totoaba Cartels ... ›
- WATCH: Poachers Ambush Sea Shepherd Vessel Protecting Nearly ... ›
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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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Sea Shepherd says its vessel was "violently attacked by poachers" in the Gulf of California. Sea Shepherd
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says that its vessel, the M/V Farley Mowat, was ambushed on Jan. 31 by a group of poachers posing as fishermen while the ship was conducting maritime conservation patrols in a vaquita refuge in Mexico's Gulf of California. It's the second such attack in less than a month.
The conservation organization says its ship was surrounded by more than 50 assailants on 20 high speed boats, according to a press release shared with EcoWatch.
<p>
Sea Shepherd said the side of the Farley Mowat caught fire and its windows shattered because the attackers were hurling molotov cocktails and projectiles such as lead weights and large stones at the vessel.
</p><p>
<span></span>The group also released <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al4uQ5COur8&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">dramatic footage</a> of the confrontation:
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f3b782d262e0fe7553d5bd0c7d4fef02"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/al4uQ5COur8?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">SEA SHEPHERD SHIP'S WINDOWS SMASHED AND HULL SET ON FIRE BY POACHERS</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al4uQ5COur8&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>
Crew onboard the Farley Mowat used high-pressure fire hoses to defend the vessel while Mexican Navy soldiers and federal police stationed aboard opened fire into the air and sea to deter the attackers. Neither the crew nor the security personnel sustained injuries. No arrests have been made.
</p><p>
The Farley Mowat was
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTMnwr63LIM">similarly attacked</a> by roughly 35 fishing boats in the waters on Jan. 9.
</p><p>
"These repeated attacks have made Sea Shepherd's vital conservation efforts within the Vaquita Refuge challenging in recent weeks, casting a doubt on the vaquita's chances of survival," the press release states.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTE0NzI1OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTE3NzcyNX0.wBlDv4bZ8DIRqhChx-z08vUXOTvEKjrYzmbmoodYNR4/img.jpg?width=980" id="c208e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bb76be475e8469ab1c38447c1b3b7fd0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Projectiles, including lead weights and large stones, were hurled by poachers.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Sea Shepherd</small>
</p><p>
<span></span>Sea Shepherd conducts maritime patrols in the upper Gulf of California, or Sea of Cortez, to protect the critically <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species">endangered</a> vaquita, a porpoise endemic to the waters. <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/only-12-vaquita-porpoises-remain-watchdog-groups-report/" target="_blank">Experts</a> say there could be as few as a dozen vaquitas left.
</p><p>
The operations are conducted with the knowledge and cooperation of the Mexican government to help detect illegal fishing activities, the
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/10/mexican-fishermen-attack-sea-shepherd-vaquita-porpoise" target="_blank">Associated Press</a> noted.
</p><p>
<span></span>The conservation group retrieves <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/gillnets" target="_self">gillnets</a> from the waters to protect the vaquita. The marine mammal is not directly hunted but they become entangled and drown in the illegal nets set for capturing totoaba, a large and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/sea-shepherd-rescue-totoaba-2554869373.html" target="_self">critically endangered fish</a> that's prized for its swim bladder as a Chinese delicacy.
</p><p>
The latest confrontation happens as the new
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/leonardo-dicaprio">Leonardo DiCaprio</a>-produced documentary <a href="https://www.terramater.at/cinema/sea-of-shadows/" target="_blank"><em>Sea of Shadows</em></a>—which features the plight of the vaquita and Sea Shepherd's work to save it—premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
</p><p>
"Sea Shepherd is 100 percent committed to continuing retrieval operations of illegal ghost nets and active illegal gillnets to protect the vaquita marina from extinction at the hands of poachers and criminal gangs," Locky Maclean, Sea Shepherd's director of ship operations and campaigns, said in the release. "We look forward to working closely with the new government and are grateful in playing a part in the protection and preservation of such a special region of the world, and such an iconic species, the vaquita marina."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="801fb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="C4QN871576662563"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="994562918921461760" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">THE VAQUITA ~~ New Doc on Nearly Extinct Vaquita Features Sea Shepherd
Last year, an international vaquita recovery… https://t.co/hKZjOf75Dm</div> — Wildlife Warriors (@Wildlife Warriors)<a href="https://twitter.com/GlobalWarriors/statuses/994562918921461760">1525957252.0</a></blockquote></div>
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About 35 skiffs attacked a Sea Shepherd vessel in a marine protected area in Mexico's Upper Gulf of California. Alex Beldi / Sea Shepherd
The environmental organization Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says its crew was attacked Wednesday by roughly 35 fishing boats inside a vaquita refuge in Mexico's Gulf of California.
Sea Shepherd released a video showing fishermen shouting, hurling objects and trying to foul the propellors of the M/V Farley Mowat, a Sea Shepherd vessel used in campaigns against illegal fisheries activities.
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1c23b3497573cdd5d7fe96c4c45e6471"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CTMnwr63LIM?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">SEA SHEPHERD SHIP ATTACKED INSIDE VAQUITA REFUGE</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTMnwr63LIM&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>
The vaquita is the world's most endangered marine mammal, with only about a dozen left in their habitat in the Sea of Cortez,
<a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/only-12-vaquita-porpoises-remain-watchdog-groups-report/" target="_blank">according to experts</a>. The porpoises are not directly hunted but get entangled and drown in illegal <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/gillnets" target="_self">gillnets</a> set for capturing totoaba, a large and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/sea-shepherd-rescue-totoaba-2554869373.html" target="_self">critically endangered fish</a> that's prized for its swim bladder as a Chinese delicacy.
</p><p>
The fishermen were participating in "obvious illegal poaching" of totoaba, according to a Sea Shepherd press release sent to EcoWatch. The video shows some of the skiffs carrying gillnets, even though they are banned within the vaquita reserve.
</p><p>
Sea Shepherd said:
</p><blockquote>
The poachers attacked by hurling leadweights, anchors, trash, dead fish and even Tabasco sauce at the vessel and its wheelhouse windows in addition to threatening ship's crew with Molotov cocktails, spraying gasoline at the ship and pouring gas in the sea around the vessel.
</blockquote><p>
The video also shows the crew on the Farley Mowat using a hose to repel some of the boats.
</p><p>
<span></span>Sea Shepherd said that while its vessel was temporarily immobilized after the propeller fouling, five fishermen boarded the ship and looted multiple objects from the deck.
</p><p>
"During the illegal boarding, the Sea Shepherd crew was able to keep the poachers from entering into the ship, and used an emergency firehose to repel the boarders, while waiting for naval forces to arrive," the press release said. "At this time a Mexican Naval Helicopter made several passes above the scene and the skiffs began to disperse."
</p><p>
The vessel's captain was eventually able restart the engines and headed to the port of San Felipe where the ship was met by the regional Navy Commander and reinforcements, according to Sea Shepherd.
</p><p>
<span></span>Sea Shepherd conducts maritime patrols inside the vaquita refuge and had recovered three illegal gillnets in the morning before the attack. The group's operations are conducted with the knowledge and cooperation of the Mexican government to help detect illegal fishing activities, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/10/mexican-fishermen-attack-sea-shepherd-vaquita-porpoise" target="_blank">Associated Press</a> noted.
</p><p>
Captain Paul Watson, founder and CEO of Sea Shepherd, said his organization "will not be deterred by violence."
</p><p>
"Our mission is to prevent the extinction of the vaquita porpoise and we will continue to seize the nets of poachers in the Vaquita Refuge," he said in the press release. "Sea Shepherd salutes the quick responsiveness of the Mexican Navy in defusing a dangerous situation."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="49add" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="GR4IDB1576683773"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1069078778696146944" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Near-Extinct #Vaquita Gets Another Lifeline from the Courts https://t.co/9e60Qslzvj @NRDC @ConservationOrg</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1069078778696146944">1543723218.0</a></blockquote></div>
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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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WATCH: Less Than 30 Vaquitas Remain. Sea Shepherd Is Determined to Save World's Most Endangered Marine Mammal
08 October 2018
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Watch as Sea Shepherd Ship Manager Rebecca Benjamin-Carey takes viewers on a tour through Operation Milagro V's latest vessel: The M/V White Holly. EcoWatch's Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/282268175718393/
Sea Shepherd will soon launch the White Holly vessel from Fernandina Beach, Florida to Mexico's Sea of Cortez in an effort to advance their latest campaign, Operation Milagro V. The campaign is focused on saving the the vaquita porpoise—the world's most endangered marine mammal.
EcoWatch teamed up with Sea Shepherd in this exclusive Facebook live video below to hear about their mission to save the vaquita. Asia's wildlife blackmarket is on track to driving the vaquita to extinction. Poachers causing the crisis are not actually after the vaquita, but the totoaba fish, as one totoaba bladder sells for $20,000 USD in China's blackmarket. As a result vaquitas are tragically getting trapped in illegal nets and dying at rapid rates.
<p style="">Scientists reported two years ago that there are less than <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/sea-shepherd-vaquita-2449075367.html">30 vaquitas alive</a>. Capt. Lockhart "Locky" MacLean, Sea Shepherd's director of marine operations, explained in a press release the proven methods they use to help save the vaquita:<br></p><blockquote>There is work to do to ensure the vaquita survives. Sea Shepherd will start removing inactive totoaba fishing gear, also known as ghost nets and we will come across occasional active nets this early in the season. We are also ensuring no fishing is taking place inside the protected area and preventing poaching activities by patrolling the area with our partner agencies from the Mexican Government on-board.</blockquote><p style="">Working with the Mexican government and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/sea-shepherd-vaquita-2169987359.html">navy</a> is crucial to helping mitigate Sea Shepherd's risk factors. Poachers have <a href="https://seashepherd.org/2017/12/26/sea-shepherd-night-drone-shot-down-by-poachers/" target="_blank">shot down a drone</a> and <a href="https://seashepherd.org/2018/04/12/shots-fired-at-sea-shepherds-m-v-sharpie/">fired shots</a> at one of the ships.</p><p style="">"Luckily we have senior crew members on board like our experienced captains that provide all the training we need to act accordingly in threatening situations," said Ship Manager Rebecca Benjamin-Carey. "For a lot of us, we have dedicated our lives to protecting the oceans and face these situations head on."</p><p style="">Manny crew members working on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MVWhiteHolly/" target="_blank">the White Holly vessel</a> are working on a ship for the first time. People from all walks of life are coming together and working with Sea Shepherd to defend the oceans and marine life. </p><p style="">"For me, the greatest sin was when humans decided that only humans matter," said Finnish Crew Member and Deckhand Lotta Roti. "That is not true and that's why I want to fight and be a warrior."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
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A vaquita (Phocoena sinus). Paula Olson / NOAA
Last year, an international vaquita recovery committee rang alarm bells after reporting that there were just 30 left on the planet, with more recent estimates pegging the tiny porpoise's population at only 12.
Now, the plight of the world's most endangered marine mammal—and the intense conservation efforts to save it—is the subject of a new documentary from Red Bull's Terra Mater Factual Studios, Variety reported Tuesday.
<p>
The new film, slated for completion this year, has the working title <em>Vaquita—Sea of Ghosts</em><em>.</em> The name likely refers to the vaquita being driven to the brink of extinction due to unauthorized gillnet or "ghost net" fishing in the Gulf of California, the critically <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_blank">endangered species</a>' only known habitat. Gillnets, which are used to catch totoaba bass sought by Chinese markets, can entangle and kill marine animals, including the vaquita that get trapped in them.
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Terra Mater previously collaborated with actor and environmentalist <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/leonardo-dicaprio" target="_blank">Leonardo DiCaprio</a>'s production company Appian Way on 2016's <em>The Ivory Game</em> that was among the 15 finalists for the best feature documentary Oscar.
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The
<a href="https://seashepherd.org/" target="_blank">Sea Shepherd Conservation Society</a>—which has <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/sea-shepherd-rescue-totoaba-2554869373.html">vigorously campaigned</a> to save the imperiled porpoise—is also working on the documentary, as Captain Paul Watson announced in a Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/captpaulwatson/posts/10156021770485932" target="_blank">post</a>.
</p><p>
According to Variety, the film starts with a meeting between DiCaprio and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/dicaprio-vaquita-oceans-day-2436761026.html">Last June</a>, they signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at conserving marine ecosystems in the Gulf of California and saving the vaquita porpoise.
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<em>Vaquita—Sea of Ghosts</em> also shows sometimes-heated conflict between Mexican drug cartels and Chinese crime gangs versus the Mexican government, the U.S. Navy, the FBI, Sea Shepherd and other wildlife activist groups, Variety reported.
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The film is directed by award-winning Richard Ladkani, who was also behind
<em>The Ivory Game</em>. It will premiere internationally in 2018.
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</p><div id="3a29f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="D506RH1576683820"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="923550561831710723" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">First #Vaquita Rescued in Bid to Save the Porpoise From Extinction https://t.co/8gAYe00Pjm @Oceana @VaquitaCPR @WWF @NWF @seashepherd</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/923550561831710723">1509026587.0</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
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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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