Vaquita Marina: Recovery of ghost nets in the Upper Gulf of California

Abandoned nets in the Protection of the Vaquita Marina Refuge Area, known as "ghost nets", are one of the main causes of death of the species. Likewise, illegal fishing and lack of surveillance in the Upper Gulf of California are a threat not only to the smallest cetacean in the world, which has been considered in danger of extinction for more than 20 years, but also to fish, crabs, lobsters, turtles, birds, and marine mammals, which get entangled in the nets.

To reduce the negative environmental and economic impacts caused by "ghost nets" in this Biosphere Reserve, Pronatura Noroeste, in conjunction with a group of experts from the Whale Museum, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change, conducted searches using boats equipped with grampines and marine winches to locate and remove nets abandoned on the sea floor in the upper Gulf of California. As a product of this effort, after two seasons of work in one year, we were able to locate and remove a total of 240 nets.

At the end of September 2018 the alliance carried out an expedition in which three groups of Vaquitas Marinas, consisting of two and four specimens in good condition, were spotted and documented. The images went around the world as proof that the Vaquita Marina is not extinct. Pronatura Noroeste will continue to collaborate in concrete activities that curb illegal fishing and species trafficking, which invariably impact this species.