To help prevent whale gillnet entanglements in #vaquita habitat, we are sharing video by Ecología y Conservación de Ballenas (ECOBAC), which gives advice from fishers to fishers on measures to reduce risk & to report entanglements to @CONANP_mx for San Felipe RABEN rescue team.

https://x.com/CetaceanAction/status/1791038980328190350

.@CONANP_mx continues to act as the main agency bringing community (particularly fishers) together with environmentalists for dialogue on improving conservation in #vaquita habitat in the Upper Gulf of California & Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve .

Mexico's report to @CITES #SC78 on #totoaba Trilateral Enforcement Contact Group includes draft Outcome Brief of a closed meeting MX, CN, US & @INTERPOL_HQ held during ⬇️ organized by @UNODC_ENV supported by @ICCWC_WFC; 2 next meetings agreed 12/24 & 3/25.
https://cites.org/sites/default/files/documents/SC/78/agenda/E-SC78-33-12-02.pdf

https://x.com/CetaceanAction/status/1854553108963283354

1/2 @NOAAFisheries invites comment on rule to automate the COA document now required only for Mexican seafood to attest that imports are not from #vaquita habitat. But system is broken; origin & capture method of Upper Gulf gillnetted shrimp is laundered.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/12/17/2024-29238/seafood-import-procedures-and-certification-of-admissibility


https://x.com/CetaceanAction/status/1737544452334407938

2/2 @NOAAFisheries will work with @CBP using Mexico as a test case.  But if @Conapesca officials knowingly or unknowingly continue signing COAs based on fraudulent shrimp landing reports & waybills, it's automated garbage in, garbage out & no incentive for #vaquita fishery reform

NOAA proposed automating a broken system failing to prevent imports of gillnetted shrimp from vaquita habitat

1/2 Recent meetings: in San Felipe a delegation of federal environmental authorities @SEMAR_mx @PROFEPA_Mx @CONANP_mx met with Sea Shepherd @SeaShepherdSSCS on their ship Seahorse as part of their scientific cooperation agreement & for introduction to SSCS work with @SEMAR_mx 

https://x.com/SEMARNAT_mx/status/1868426063803474372

2/2 Sonora state governor @AlfonsoDurazo & head of fisheries @CelidaLopezc met with Santa Clara fishing leader @CarlosT12351108 to hear his views on fisheries policy & governance, & with female cooperative members who have been exploring ways to add value to seafood products

https://x.com/CelidaLopezc/status/1868046629091057692

Recent meetings in the Upper Gulf

With so few #vaquita porpoise remaining (minimum 6-8) the right thing to do is intensify efforts to track the population & solve conservation management failures.  It's the gillnets in their environment that create unsuitable conditions for recovery.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/conservation-science/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1480035/abstract

Blue and orange, calm San Felipe sunrise looking southeast from shore over #vaquita habitat in Mexico's Upper Gulf of California
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDM6ESiPIRM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

.@nrdc Instagram video on their role in bring about US embargo on gillnetted seafood due to #vaquita entanglement. For a deeper dive, check out this article: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/restore-us-mexico-seafood-trade-and-save-the-vaquita/ TLDR: US now bans imports from #vaquita-safe gear, because it exists only on paper, not in reality

The one that got away: a bottlenose dolphin with characteristic deep scarring from having escaped gillnet entanglement was filmed swimming near a #vaquita porpoise during the May 2023 survey. 📷Felipe Triana
https://iucn-csg.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Vaquita-Survey-2023-Appendices-FINAL.pdf

. @PronaturaNoroes strengthens its work on improving governance of #vaquita habitat in Mex Upper Gulf of California - with fishing cooperatives to promote self-regulation, & with government authorities to explore avenues for co-management with communities.
https://pronatura-noroeste.org/impulsar-la-pesca-sustentable-e-incluyente-en-san-felipe-y-otras-comunidades-costeras-en-el-alto-golfo-de-california/