Shrimp Laundry and Vaquita Conservation

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1/4 🧵 @ernesto_mendez @Excelsior article on shrimp laundry & #vaquita conservation - "a simulation," as we noted yesterday, with few fishers actually using the sustainable fishing gear on their permits, & buyers filing false paperwork to reach US market x.com/CetaceanAction/status/1849842543221145818 x.com/ernesto_mendez/status/1849932179691708804

2/4 US investigating "exporters, importers & vessels" evading the only current embargo under the Marine Mammal Protection Act; low prices paid to Upper Gulf shrimpers due in part to larger market dynamics (they are low elsewhere in Mexico), but also extra costs of corruption x.com/CetaceanAction/status/1798741475163029543

3/4 Good that fishers are actually advocating for a vessel monitoring system for pangas -- which was supposed to already be in place by May 30 2024 according to Mexico's @CITES action plan, although there was a high rate of sabotage of the units when this was tried previously

4/4 But don't move the goalposts! Last administration reached informal agreement with fishers to reduce the 11,000 km2 gillnet ban area but not the boundaries of the 1850 km2 #Vaquita Refuge. This was never acted upon and Refuge violations continue despite international pressure