Ecobreves – MEXICO: Last Gasp of Rare Porpoise

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

MEXICO CITY, Jun 16 2008 (IPS) - Efforts are failing to prevent the extinction of the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a rare species of porpoise that is native to Mexico. From 1999 to 2008, its population has plummeted from 600 to 150 animals. The vaquita is on the verge of disappearing and “only drastic measures will save the species,” Alejandro Olivera, coordinator of the oceans campaign for the environmental group Greenpeace Mexico, told Tierramérica.

The government announced some 16 million dollars in alternative work programs for the fishermen whose nets have continued to trap the vaquita, a sea mammal that measures .70 to 1.50 meters and inhabits the waters of the Sea of Cortéz in northwestern Mexico.

Only the elimination of fishing nets from the area and strict monitoring can save the species. “The government program has come very late,” said Olivera.