MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government said Thursday it will use buoys to mark the reserve of the world’s most endangered marine mammal, in a bid to save the last remaining 10 or so vaquita marina porpoises. The government is faced with the challenge of ending illegal net fishing for totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is considered a delicacy in China. The lower figure was the number of vaquitas actually seen on the surface during a trip by researchers last fall. Instead it simply proposes marking the vaquita reserve — a larger area — with buoys, even though it is quite clear that poachers know very well where the reserve starts. But it will be hard for such schemes to replace the thousands of dollars that fishermen can sometimes get for a large totoaba swim bladder.

Source: Washington Post March 22, 2019 00:48 UTC