Mexico considers shrinking protected areas for endangered vaquita porpoise

MEXICO CITY — Mexican officials have proposed scaling back fishing regulations meant to protect a narrow stretch of ocean home to the last 10 remaining vaquitas, the world’s smallest species of porpoise.

If implemented, the changes could shrink protected areas and open up vessel traffic in the northern Gulf of California, the stretch of water between Baja California and mainland Mexico where the vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is endemic. The proposal cites scientific research and aims to satisfy local fishing communities, but conservation groups say the changes in it could lead to the porpoise’s extinction.

“I don’t think we can forget that this is the most endangered marine mammal in the world,” Sarah Doleman, senior ocean campaigner for the U.K.-based NGO the Environmental Investigation Agency, told Mongabay. “With such a small population of 10 individuals, any effort to reduce the measures that are in place at the moment, and to enforce those measures fully, would be a real threat to the future of this species.”

The proposal, not yet public but reviewed by Mongabay, is being developed by several government agencies, including the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT). Input on it came from fishing industry representatives and an “interinstitutional group” assembled by the government that the proposal does not identify.

The vaquita measures just 1.5 meters (5 feet) in length, weighs 54 kilograms (120 pounds) and features dark circles around its eyes. Its numbers have been steadily declining from under 600 when scientists first surveyed the species in 1997, with accidental entanglement in fishing gear being a main cause of death. Its plight has drawn intense scrutiny from conservationists who reported spotting a stable number of individuals during surveys in 2025, including at least one calf.

Protections in the northern Gulf of California were first established in 2005 and most recently revised in 2020. They include a “zero-tolerance area” (ZTA) spanning 288 square kilometers (about 111 square miles) where all navigation and fishing activity is prohibited as well as a surrounding “refuge area” of 1,263 km2 (488 mi2) with strict fishing regulations.

Surrounding the refuge and ZTA is a “gillnet prohibition zone” of approximately 11,000-km2 (4,247-mi2). Gillnets and trammel nets, which hang down vertically in the water, have repeatedly killed vaquitas as bycatch. Fishers set some of the nets primarily to catch totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), an endangered fish whose capture is illegal and whose swim bladder sells for thousands of dollars on the international black market.

The agreement establishing these protections also requires vessels to use authorized monitoring systems and departure sites and prohibits fishing at night.

The vaquita refuge and gillnet prohibition zone were established in different years but ultimately have similar regulations. The proposed revision to the 2020 agreement would effectively consolidate them by eliminating the vaquita refuge and shrinking the gillnet prohibition zone to a similar size.

It isn’t clear exactly how large the reduction would be, but maps included in the proposal suggest it would be substantial, reopening much of the vaquita habitat to fishing.

The ZTA would also be reduced to 225 km2 (about 87 mi2), and an adjacent “special use area” would be added that would permit certain fishing activities. These may include free diving and hookah diving, a practice that involves a hose and compressor, according to a separate internal analysis of the proposal prepared by SEMARNAT that Mongabay also reviewed. Devices installed in that area to capture gillnets would remain in place, the analysis said.

“Instead of expanding enforcement, the government is surrendering the vast majority of the vaquita’s habitat to the very fishing gear that kills them,” Alex Olivera, senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, told Mongabay in a written statement.

Another regulation change could involve reducing the number of embarkation sites for fishing vessels in an effort to consolidate monitoring of fishing activity at fewer locations.

The proposal could also reverse the 2020 agreement’s ban on fishing between 4 p.m. and 5 a.m., with the reasoning that Pacific sierra (Scomberomorus sierra), a species local fishers commonly target, have nocturnal habits and are best caught at night. Regulations of fishing gear are strong enough to make time-based restrictions unnecessary, the internal analysis argued.

“Considering that … the [agreement] itself establishes regulations on permitted and prohibited fishing methods, regardless of the time of day, it is considered appropriate to eliminate the provisions that prohibit fishing at night,” the analysis said.

The internal analysis reviewed by Mongabay suggests that the government has been considering development of the changes since at least 2023 — involving visits to the area and meetings with fishing communities and civil society. It’s up to the agencies developing the proposal whether to adopt the changes, though it’s unclear whether they have reached a decision or if additional changes might be included.

SEMARNAT, the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas, the Navy, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Federal Attorney’s Office for Environmental Protection — all agencies involved in enforcing fishing regulations in the area — didn’t respond to requests for comment for this story.

Scientific and technical studies of acoustic and vaquita sighting data cited in the internal analysis of the proposal were provided by the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita, an international group of scientists created by the Mexican government.

According to the internal analysis, research showed there was less documented vaquita activity in the area where the gillnet prohibition zone could be reduced.

However, critics of the proposal said the explanation in the analysis is too simplistic and that the vaquita population needs a larger protected habitat if it’s going to recover.

“Wild marine mammals don’t stay within a box on a map, and scientists have repeatedly documented vaquitas outside the zero-tolerance area,” Olivera said. “Narrowing the scope of protection creates a risk that this species cannot afford.”

Banner image: Vaquitas in front of a fishing skiff in the Gulf of California. Image by Sea Shepherd.

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Rebecca Kessler Editor

This story first appeared on Mongabay

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