April 10, 2018 by Yemeli Ortega, With Joanna
Chiu In Guangzhou, China
Mexico's vaquita marina—the world's smalest
porpose—has been virtually wiped out by totoaba fishing, because it gets stuck
in the same kind of net
The dried fish parts don't look like much to
the novice eye, but the totoaba swim bladders discreetly displayed in this shop
in Guangzhou, China sell for up to $20,000.
Half a world away, off the coast of
Mexico, poachers battling
each other for this "cocaine of the sea" are using drug cartel-like
tactics to get it—pushing two species toward extinction and leaving ordinary
fishermen fighting to survive.
The lucrative black market for totoaba swim
bladders—prized in Chinese traditional medicine for their purported healing and
beautifying properties—have turned the Gulf of California into a battleground,
criss-crossed by armed poachers, Mexican navy vessels and environmental
activists patrolling with pirate flags.
The casualties of this war include not only
the critically endangered totoaba, but also the world's smallest porpoise, the
vaquita marina—of which just 30 remain, according to scientists—and local
fishermen caught in the middle.
Mexican authorities say the vaquita has been
virtually wiped out by totoaba fishing, because it gets stuck in the same kind
of net.
Known as the "panda of the sea" for
the distinctive black circles around its eyes, the porpoise has become a cause
celebre for the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim.
Three years ago, the Mexican government
declared a ban on fishing in a 1,300-square-kilometer (500-square-mile) area off
the coast of San Felipe, a fishing community that depended on the industry for
70 percent of its economy.
"They want to make San Felipe a ghost
town," said Omar Solis, a shrimper who bought a catamaran and is now
trying to reinvent himself as a pleasure cruise operator for tourists.
Solis, 42, warns other ex-fishermen will
likely end up as totoaba poachers.
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