Vaquita are very, very shy around boats, and the weather has to be perfect to see their tiny puffs emerge from the surface of the sea. It is a combination of enviromental factors and being in the right place at the right time that will increase your chances of seeing them in the wild.

This week, there is news of a sighting of epic proportion in terms of the vaquita, with a population estimated to be 250 animals from the most recent scientific survey to assess the population.

A group from Mexico’s La Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales (CONAMP – National Commission of Natural Protected Areas) sighted a group of 9 vaquitas. They were out near Rocas Consag retrieving acoustic recording equipment used in a montoring program run with Instituto Nacional de Ecologia (INE). Rocas Consag is a giant rock in the middle of the upper gulf, and sits within the vaquita refuge (a protected area for vaquita). It is an amazing place teeming with marine wildlife and birds.

One group consisted of five individuals, with one calf and two juveniles. They were observed by CONAMP staff for two hours. Two pairs of two animals were sighted in close vicinity.

According to SEMERNAT’s website (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) –

“this new sighting brings new energy and fresh breath of air to the conservation efforts in the region.”

This is obviously good news for the Mexican government who, according to their website, have spent nearly 425 million pesos (32.5 million US dollars) on vaquita conservation; a combination of an intricate fisheries buyout and management program. Since 2008, there has been an enforced ban on local gillnet fishing within the Vaquita refuge. Scientists have identified gillnets used to catch shrimp as the main threat to the vaquita population. My documentary film goes into depth to understand Mexico’s vaquita conservation program, implementation and potential challenges to local communities and the vaquita.

I have spent a number of weeks trying to film and photograph vaquita over recent years and am very lucky to be one of the few people who have captured them at close range in the wild. So, it is exciting to hear about this encounter and am incredibly happy to see that the team recorded it on a digital camera for people to witness. I hope that this type of encounter can go along way to keeping the animals in the public eye, even for a brief moment.

Honestly, my heart raced seeing this image, like having an accidental encounter with good friend you have not seen for a number of years. It brought back memories of sitting in a boat for weeks, trying to find that rare encounter in flat seas with the epic baja landscape in the distance.

So, the question is – does this mean that the conservation programs are working?

On the surface, it is a good indicator. However, there are complicated socio-economic issues that are at the heart of achieving success in the conservation program. So, I am still keeping my fingers crossed at this point as there is a long way to go until I pack away my ‘save the vaquita’ t-shirt.

For more information on the sighting, read the press release on SEMERNAT’s website (in spanish).

See the photo of the sighting on SEMERNAT’s flickr page.

Watch the online documentary – Vaquita – Last Chance for the Desert Porpoise.

Vaquita is the smallest of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) in the world and inhabits a very tiny 40 square mile region of sea in the Upper Gulf of California, Mexico. They are found nowhere else in the world.

Baiji (Yangtze River Dolphin).

To scientists, Vaquita is a critically endangered animal. Their numbers are now so low, that before we know it, they feel it could join the fate of the Baiji – a river dolphin in China that lived only in the Yangtze river. In 2007, Baiji was declared extinct as a result of increased human activity and overfishing.

To fishermen, vaquita is a nuisance to the local fishing industry and their families. Most have never seen a vaquita alive, or even want to. Catching a vaquita in a gillnet leads to too much attention and hassle. In 2007, the ‘alternative livelihoods program’ commenced, led by government agencies to “buy-out” the nets and boats of all local fishermen, and supply them with new careers.

A Vaquita entangled in a gillnet. Illustration by Uko Gorter

Alternative livelihoods is a fairly loose term for the program. Eco-tourism was promoted as one answer. However, tourism would have to increase substantially for it to replace fishing as the main economic staple for the region. The upper gulf is an adventurous place to travel to, not quite disneyland for the kids with military checkpoints outside of each town, and still very rough around the edges.

To conservationists, vaquita is a puzzle. On paper it should be relatively easy to save the species from rapid decline, after all, there is only one major problem scientists have identified as the main culprit for their decline – gillnets. So, it should be easy to buy out the fishermen and give them new lives away from the sea. But for the older generation of fishermen, this is not so simple. Also, not all fishermen own their fishing permits, so buying removing nets and licenses is not necessarily a fair trade for everyone in the area.

Processing shrimp in Santa Clara.

To me, vaquita is a marine jewel, a secretive creature that maybe people are not supposed to know much about. However, I fear its story is destined to be repeated around the world over coming years as cetacean populations are declining due to entanglements in nets. If some type of balance cannot be found in the upper gulf, this small, sleek, and gorgeous animal, the atypical “little guy” with no voice in the debate, has very little time and hope. Its fate will be decided by us, whether it likes it or not.

A Vaquita porpoise photographed on October 19, 2008.

True, it is a signature to an area rich in marine biodiversity in a sea Jacques Cousteau once referred to as the “ocean’s aquarium”. The Gulf of California is one of my favorite places in the world.

The gulf is home to the world’s biggest animal, the enormous blue whale. Large populations of fin, sei and sperm whales also plow its depths, pods of common dolphins charge about in schools that number in the thousands and multitudes of breeding seabirds crowd together on cactus studded islets. The stark contrast between the relatively barren terrestrial landscape and the lush marine seascape is a defining paradox evident everywhere in the gulf. It is one of Earth’s most diverse and exquisite marine habitats.

It was a perfectly still hot dry morning when I first encountered this mythical marine mammal. I was filming and photographing Expedition Vaquita – a mulltinational scientific expedition that spent two months in the upper gulf with the aim of estimating the already fragile population.

NOAA RV David Starr Jordan

I was onboard the NOAA research vessel David Starr Jordan, filming interviews with scientists including Barb Taylor, Jay Barlow and Bob Pitman. All had been involved in the expedition in 2006 that declared the baiji in china “functionally extinct”. They had seen this before and would do anything possible to ensure this was not repeated. Their conviction was infectious. When the first sightings of vaquita occurred on the Jordan, I quickly transferred to a smaller boat with Tom Jefferson to try to get as close as possible.

A few hours later, I found myself with camera in hand, face to face with vaquita. Actually we sighted a few in the distance, so I took up my favorite position on the bow of the boat to get the best coverage. Moments later two vaquita danced in the distance and circled quickly towards the boat diving under the bow as I gracefully attempted to follow their path. So small and so quick, it was difficult to predict where they would come up to breathe and one of the most difficult animals I have ever filmed.

Researchers Paula Olson and Tom Jefferson photographing vaquita, 2008.

NOAA scientist Greg Silber was next to me during the sighting. He had done his PhD years ago on vaquita, and his photos were the first record of live vaquita prior to this day. Greg turned to me afterwards and said – “You are damn lucky, you know that, don’t you?” It was a grand understatement to even classify this encounter as rare. Many people had doubts we could even find vaquita, let alone get close enough to photograph it.

The photos and footage swept around the globe through various print and online media outlets generating a slight ‘buzz’ that has been since forgotten. But, there is much more to this story than just a chance encounter recorded in digital memory.

The Upper Gulf is full of stories of changing lives in communities with socio-economic challenges and severe environmental impact – past and present. I wanted to record the story of the people who live there, and who will decide whether or not vaquita survives – because in the end it will not be conservation groups or science who decides.

The government can help tremendously, but the upper gulf is a place that local fishermen Miguel Reyes France states in the documentary – “Santa Clara is the town with the most problems regarding legality.” The drug trade is an influential factor in this area that few wanted to talk about on camera.

During the journey documenting the story, I felt as if I was beginning to understand the complexity, yet the simplicity of what was at stake. To some, there was no easy fix, or short term solution, or was there?

A fisherman in Santa Clara, Mexico

Over the next year I tried to convince people that there still was a story to be told. The purpose would be to take a critical (and hopefully balanced) look at the vaquita story and make it freely available to people in the quickest way possible – online.

So I have recorded and edited a story captured over three years, to get it out to the public. The videos are meant to be a reflection of people who have a stake in vaquita – whether they are trying to save it, or their lives are influenced by it.

However, I felt that telling the story through my perspective was only part of it. Techniques in traditional media would serve as a foundation and starting point to the story. There needed to be a place where people could learn about and have a conversation about Vaquita.

Images of dead vaquita - Omar Vidal

So, Vaquita.tv was born – a hybrid online documentary and social media website.
It is the hope to let anyone who has a “stake” in vaquita story in the region – fishermen, scientists, conservations, students, shrimp buyers, shrimp consumers, and tourists, to participate in a way and measure the issues in real time.

Many people ask me what I feel the solution for Vaquita. I feel that leadership has to come from within local communities, and the science has presented a very credible case. In ten years, the entire population of vaquita has declined over 56%. This is a classic story of time running out, and there are key decisions in our hands that have to be made.

Fisherman launching a panga into the water.

Will the buyout work? I am not sure and personally do not feel optimistic about it. It is amazing that the Mexican government gave it a go, backed by so much funding. But, it has been one big experiment with no fallback plan especially when a fishermen’s new business fails. I feel this is influencing fishermen who were on the fence about joining the program, and we are seeing its popularity decline rapidly.

According to recent information from the Mexican government, for the first time in four years, no one is participating in the fisheries buyout program. However, the popularity of the “rent-out”, being paid a sum to not fishing in an area already protected by law, is on the rise. It seems a bit ridiculous to pay people to stay out of a marine protected area that already bans gillnets. This type of conservation is not sustainable at all and sends the wrong message.

Alejandro Robles with AGS members

A year ago, I revisited Santa Clara, travelling with Alejandro Robles a conservationist with over 35 years experience working in the upper gulf. He showed me a new office that had just opened – symbolized by the drying paint on the walls. Alto Golfo Sustenable, an NGO started to be a bridge between industry groups, local NGOs and fishermen, was now open and next door to the local fisheries office. A few computers with internet access was installed with free access for people in Santa Clara. This is the starting point for a communication revolution. There is how and where we can hear how local communities. I hope people do join in the debate.

Pangas in the street in Santa Clara

So, can social media really save a species like Vaquita?

Here are a couple of ways social media will help -

• Scientists, conservation groups, and local community members join the debate online which will help break down barriers to help better manage and adapt the conservation programs in place. This way, the information flow can increase and be beneficial to all sides. In the end, this could help save vaquita and help local communities.
• Visitors of the site, share the videos with your friends, tell people about vaquita and the website, that is the first step. Not many people outside of the marine conservation community know about the animal so people cannot care about something they do not know about. The film is broken up into seven shorts in order to make it more “web-friendly” so it can be shared.

If you have not watched the entire film, make sure to watch the chapter entitled “The Future“.

In many ways, it is in your hands to change “the future” for vaquita. Why not give it a go?

Tucked away in the northern extremities of the Gulf of California in Mexico, lives the entire world population of the Vaquita porpoise. Its range is the smallest of any marine mammal – living in an area less than 40 square miles.

Filmmaker Chris Johnson of earthOCEAN had unprecedented access for three years to one of the world’s most grave marine conservation stories. In 2008, he joined the international scientific effort – Expedition Vaquita – to find and document any remaining animals in the region. He interviewed international conservation groups and met with local fishermen to find out what solutions, if any could be found in time.

Johnson notes: “We had two goals for the project – the first was to film and photograph the elusive Vaquita porpoise and document the people racing to help it survive. The second and most important, was to create a much-needed tool for outreach efforts to communicate scientific findings and conservation recommendations for the Vaquita, while addressing the challenges for people in local communities.”

In recent years human pressures have taken an enormous toll on the desert porpoise. Gill nets – nearly invisible fishing nets set in the water like curtains and often left unattended by coastal fishers primarily fishing for shrimp – are the greatest single cause of Vaquita mortality. Vaquita become entangled and drown when they accidentally swim into the nets.

Tim Ragen, Executive Director of the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, a supporter of the multimedia project says – “Chris brings an essential, balanced perspective to a complex issue fraught with socio-economic challenges. His efforts will increase awareness of people around the world regarding the plight of this highly endangered species.”

Vaquita aren’t the intended target of any fishery, they are merely the bycatch of local fishers trying to earn a living and feed their families. For the fishers of El Golfo de Santa Clara, San Felipe and Puerto Penasco, the Vaquita is collateral damage.

The Vaquita is sliding ever closer to the edge of oblivion where it is on course to join its cousin; the Baiji. The Baiji, also known as the Yangtze River dolphin, lived only in China in the Yangtze River. In 2007, it is the first cetacean species to be declared extinct in modern times, as a direct result of human activities.

To watch the documentary online, follow updates about the vaquita, and read blogs from various experts visit the website – www.vaquita.tv

In September 2010, earthOCEAN will freely give DVDs through partners to local communities of El Golfo de Santa Clara, and San Felipe Mexico so people with limited internet access can watch this story, and make a decision about the importance of the Vaquita to the biodiversity of the region.

“Vaquita – Last Chance for the Desert Porpoise” is supported by grants from The Ocean Foundation and United States Marine Mammal Commission with support from scientific and conservation partners – NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center in the United States and in Mexico Instituto Nacional de Ecología, Noereste Sustentable, CEDO – Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans and WWF Mexico.

Mark J. Spalding, President of The Ocean Foundation and active in Vaquita conservation for 25 years, says the documentary is “beautiful and made me fall in love with this unique animal all over again.” Spalding expressed that “we have confidence that this film will convince people that this rare and elusive animal is a Mexican treasure worth saving.”
Press Contact:

Steph Johnson

+1 917-805-6925 (New York, NY USA)
Email: media@earthocean.tv
Web: www.earthocean.tv

The key to any well-intentioned conservation plan often comes down to the monitoring and enforcement of it. Mexico’s plan to save the highly endangered vaquita marina porpoise in the Upper Gulf of California, Mexico is no exception. In 2008, under pressure from national and international groups, Mexico created a special compensation program known as PACE – Vaquita to reduce the number of fishermen, exchange harmful gillnets for porpoise-safe gear, and prohibit the use of gillnets in the Vaquita Refuge (see my blog here). The program looked impressive on paper, but is it working?

Thanks to two non-profit organizations, Terra Peninsular and Environmental Flying Services, we have a rare third party view of the impact of Mexico’s PACE – Vaquita program. With support from FONDO Mexicano and NRDC, the groups conducted monthly 2 day aerial surveys of the Upper Gulf during the 2009 – 2010 fishing season (October to March) to document how many boats were operating in the area and where. Below is an example snapshot of their findings which combines census information and GIS mapping.

Read the entire blog posting here:

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ayouatt/monitoring_mexicos_vaquita_con.html

We cannot deny the grave situation the vaquita is in, or how difficult it will be to find solutions that will not only save this species from extinction, but allow local fishermen to maintain successful livelihoods as well.

The last five years have been filled with numerous efforts on behalf of governments, conservation groups and fishermen. There is still a lot to be done and there are constantly new opportunities and ways in which we can all help. Each community faces different challenges so whether your interests include the environment, or you would like to work with new business owners there are many ways in which your help can help the communities directly.

Become a responsible consumer – In a perfect world, the Upper Gulf’s fisheries would all be certified as sustainable, but as of today none of them are. We are slowly moving towards that scenario. With NGOs, the government and fishermen are working in collaboration to improve fisheries management and fishing practices. But in the mean time, we can try to become responsible consumers. Buy fish and shrimp directly from cooperatives that actively participate in vaquita conservation efforts. This will create an incentive to stay involved by helping local micro economies thrive. While the region is best known for its shrimp fishery, fishermen engage in a wide array of fisheries that provide great quality products that are harvested responsibly.

Support groups working in the area – There are many groups working on the field and everyone could use your help. Get involved by volunteering or doing internships with NGOs. It is definitely a great way to learn about the region while meeting great people. If you can’t make it to the Upper Gulf, there are other great ways to get involved. Providing economic support to any of the groups involved is great, as is signing petitions and spreading the word about the issues. The most important thing is that you always try to find out exactly how local communities will benefit from your actions.

Support local economies – Now that many of the fishermen are retiring from fishing and starting new businesses, it is important to support them in their new endeavors. If you travel to the area try staying in any of the ecological lodges, or maybe have a nice meal in a restaurant set up as part of the vaquita conservation program. Many of the fishermen are now entering into the ecotourism industry so make sure your sightseeing or fishing trip is set up with one of them. For a list of some of the new businesses in the region you can visit CEDO’s web page, or simply ask around and people will point in the right direction. Remember that the more support these communities receive, the better chance we have of keeping the waters gillnet free.

Ask questions, join the conversation – Vaquita conservation is complex and very dynamic. It involves environmental issues as well as social, political and economic matters. Do not be afraid to ask questions. There are many wonderful people willing to spend time talking about the issues. Whether you want to talk to someone from an NGO about environmental aspects, to a fisherman about fishing and their view on sustainability, or even someone from the government, understanding the situation is the first step towards finding a solution.

Regardless of what your interests might be, the key thing to remember while we embark in any activity is that our efforts will have an impact on the social, political and economic realities of these communities. Every action creates a ripple effect that results in several elements moving or changing, and this is what makes everything so dynamic. Solutions need to be respectful of local traditions and they need to consider both, the environmental aspects and the human aspects. People’s lives are changing as a result of our efforts to save a species, this requires patience. Above all, it requires persistence on everyone’s behalf so the process keeps moving forward.

This is a crucial time for the critically endangered vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus). Despite conservation efforts, the vaquita population has dropped more than 50 percent in the past three years as hundreds of porpoises have died in commercial fishing nets. Now just 150 vaquitas remain in their sole habitat, a portion of the Gulf of California off the coast of Mexico, and the species exists at the razor’s edge of extinction.

But meanwhile, hundreds, if not thousands, of local fishermen depend on the vaquita’s ocean habitat for their livelihoods. They have not been happy about, or supportive of, previous efforts to preserve the porpoise. As

Nature reported in 2007: “Fishing industry advocates sometimes speak openly of wiping out…Earlier programmes to alter fishing practices in the region have proven difficult to implement; last year, $1 million from the government that ostensibly paid regional fishermen not to fish instead went to buy new boats and motors.”

But now the Mexican government has gone one step further, passing a resolution to ban trawling in a specific region known as the Vaquita Refuge. The refuge was set up in 2005 to protect the porpoise, but Mexico never banned trawling in the refuge or limited its use elsewhere until now. Trawling, a type of fishing that drags large
nets behind one or more boats, has been the main cause of vaquita deaths over the last few years.

The new government resolution also limits trawling in nearby areas and “places a series of restrictive measures on the remaining trawlers calling for best-practices, monitoring of by-catch, and zero catch of vaquitas and turtles,” says Ani Youatt, director of the NRDC’s Mexico and Peru BioGems Project. Youatt says the resolution isn’t perfect, as vaquitas do migrate outside the limited protected area, but does call it “a change in course for the human relationship to the vaquita.”

So will this be enough to save the vaquita? Does it come in time? A 2007 study published in the journal Conservation Biology estimated that at least 100 vaquita are necessary to preserve the species’ genetic diversity. With just 150 porpoises left today, every vaquita counts.

Link to Article:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=last-chance-to-save-the-vaquita-por… 11/16/2009

Over the previous five weeks, I had focused my efforts on searching for the vaquita at sea. In a few brief moments last month we filmed and photographed the mythical desert porpoise no one thought we would find.

Now it was time to explore how people in local communities are affected by the management plan (“fisheries buyout plan”) put in place by the Mexican government in an attempt to reverse the decline of the desert porpoise. Through all of the talk of conservation and politics about vaquita presented at the NACAP meeting, the questions I most want answered is how were people really going to be affected in the grand scheme of this ambitious fisheries buyout, and can it work?

So for the next few days, I joined Catalina Lopez Sagástegui of Noroeste Sustentable (NOS), a non-governmental organization (NGO) that deals with conflict resolution in conservation. Their mission is to “construct and implement a long term vision for the region’s sustainable development through a political and social agreement”. She is also the co-coordinator of Alto Golfo Sustentable (AGS), an NGO that brings together all groups involved in vaquita conservation in the northern Gulf of California; often also referred to as the “upper gulf”. The group includes local fishermen, Ocean Garden (a Mexican distributor of locally caught shrimp to the United States) as well as a number of international and local NGOs.

So far, in all of my interviews with various people who work with conservation groups in Mexico, Catalina is one of the few people who really talks and listens to local fishermen. NOS are giving financial compensation to fishermen who participate in trials of alternative gear. However, according to Catalina, so far there has been no “magic bullet” to replace inexpensive, high yielding gillnets. Gillnets target blue shrimp in the upper gulf, the same nets scientists have identified as the primary source of vaquita mortality.

It is well documented around the world that porpoises and gillnets do not mix. In many ways, the model being implemented by the Mexican Government is being used as a test case for how governments may deal with this issue in the future, and in other parts of the world.

Last month, in an effort to look ‘outside of the box’, Catalina brought four local fishermen to Seattle, Washington to set up an exchange in knowledge and experience with fishermen from Seattle and Morrow Bay as part of an examination into alternative gear. Most importantly, it was a way for fishermen to share information with their peers in a manner that could not be filtered through government or non-governmental groups. Sometimes people need to do things the old fashioned way, sit down, talk, ask questions and share experiences.

Catalina arrived in San Felipe, and we sat down to film an interview. She spoke of her experiences working on vaquita conservation over the last couple of years, and the pulse of local community.

Early the next day, we visited with Alonso Garcia. He manages a local shrimp distributor in San Felipe. I asked the questions in English, and Catalina translated them into Spanish, and vica versa. Alonso has strong feelings about the buyout, and raised an important point about its implementation. “Many people are part of the shrimp industry here besides the fishermen”. In his plant, he employs people to clean and pack the shrimp, and drivers to export frozen shrimp to the US. Not to mention, most of the restaurants in the upper gulf region specialize in shrimp. Shrimp is the fuel that drives the local economy, employing many people beyond the fishermen deploying the nets in the sea.

After the interview, we filled up on fuel and jumped in the car for the 4-hour drive through the desert, via the fertile grounds adjacent to the Colorado River in Sonora. Our destination was El Golfo de Santa Clara.

The long drive culminated in the usual military checkpoint 15 miles outside of the town. “El Golfo” feels like a town on the edge of nowhere. It is the most remote of the three communities in the upper gulf, and the most reliant on the shrimp fishery. As we drove in, there was one paved road, the rest were sandy streets dominated by many of the fishermen’s 450 pangas pulled up in front of houses.

Catalina and I spent the day interviewing various people in the fishing community of El Golfo, and even gave a presentation in the local school sharing images and video of vaquita. At the moment, I am getting these interviews transcribed, so I will be in a better position to share the thoughts and experience of locals very soon.

Although we only spent a couple of days there, I was able to get a better sense of the ‘buy-out’ plan, how it is structured and what it means to the local people.

We are currently in year one of a two-year ‘save the vaquita’ conservation plan. But as scientist Lorenzo Rojas Bracho pointed out in recent papers and in my interview with him, “in order to take care of the vaquita, we have to take care of the fishermen”. Local fishermen are permitted to fish one of three species, shrimp, finfish or shark and ray, but all use the same type of gillnets.

The buyout as most people refer to it- the buying back of gillnets, engines and boats, is a bit more complicated than it first appears. There are actually three components, a buyout, a rent-out, and a switch out. All of which are entirely voluntary.

In 2007, the buyout consisted of two programs.

1. Alternative livelihoods (Buy-out)
2. Alternative gear (Rent-out)

The alternative livelihoods program (also known as the ‘buyout’), meant fishermen were required to turn in only their fishing permits if they wanted to set up a new business. This means that although permits were taken, the boats and their gear were still in the fishermen’s possession, meaning that there was a high probability of fishermen now using those same boats and gear to fish illegally.

Another characteristic of this first program was that alternative livelihoods were restricted to tourism related activities and other fishing related activities (working in refrigerated rooms, aquaculture, etc). Fishers had to apply to the government to participate in the buy-out program.

According to Catalina, the lack of control over the now “illegal” boats and the restrictions in viable alternative activities were not well received by local communities. Fishermen believed there should be many more alternative livelihood options that would guarantee them a respectable income. Also, they requested stricter measures in order to ensure the problem of illegal fishing would not grow.

The results of the 2007 buy-out were:

• San Felipe:
  • Alternative livelihoods: 12 applications
  • Alternative fishing gear: 10 applications
  • Total permits eliminated: 21 finfish and 3 shrimp
• Golfo de Santa Clara:
  • Alternative livelihoods: 22 applications
  • Total permits eliminated: 25 finfish
• Puerto Peñasco:
  • Alternative livelihoods: 17 applications
  • Total permits eliminated: 19 finfish

2008
The second buy-out program was designed differently and included modifications that reflected a more realistic way of meeting the needs of fishermen and the communities. It allowed fishermen to establish any type of business they wanted to. The second buy-out program also offered a third option. The ‘rent out’ option was the result of the urgency to get gillnets out of vaquita habitat in order to guarantee zero incidental catch mortality.

This buy-out program began in June 2008 and fishermen began receiving their funds towards the end of August 2008.

There are three options in the 2008 buy-out program
(Please note that conversion rate is 12 pesos to 1 US Dollar.)

1. Alternative livelihood (Buy-out) – This means fishermen turn in one or several permits with their respective boat, engine and fishing gear and set up a new business. There are three categories in this option depending on the # of permits someone turns in:
• 1 permit: $400,000 pesos
• 2 permits: $500,000 pesos
• 3 or more permits: $600,000 pesos
2. Rent-out – (also known as “Biodiversity Conservation Activities:”) Fishermen are paid to not go into the Refuge and use gillnets. They are not required to turn in permits since they are only required to respect the refuge and other no-take areas from the biosphere reserve. It’s payout varied on where the boat is based.
• $45,000 pesos (San Felipe, B.C.)
• $35,000 pesos (Golfo de Santa Clara and Puerto Peñasco, Sonora)
3. Alternative fishing gears – (switch-out) Turn in gillnets and begin using “vaquita safe” gear (pots, hook and line, long lines, etc.). This option does not require fishermen to give up their permits; however they do have to turn them in so they are modified to specifically say the type of gear they are allowed to use.
• Anyone who chose this option received $300,000 pesos.

On October 29th 2008, José Campoy Favela, Director of the Biosphere reserve presented the results of the 2008 program at the 2008 NACAP meeting in Mexicali.

1. Alternative livelihood (Buy-out)
• Total invested: $107,800,000 pesos
• Golfo de Santa Clara: $41,300,000 pesos (71 applications)
• San Felipe: $39,000,000 pesos (50 applications)
• Puerto Peñasco: $24,500,000 pesos (32 applications)
2. Rent-out
• Total invested: $20,540,000 pesos
• Golfo de Santa Clara: $13,440,000 pesos (384 applications)
• San Felipe: $7,065,000 pesos (157 applications)
• Puerto Peñasco: $35,000 pesos (1 applications)
3. Alternative fishing gears (“Switch-Out”)
• Total invested: $27,600,000 pesos
• Golfo de Santa Clara: $2,700,000 pesos (9 applications)
• San Felipe: $23,100,000 pesos (38 applications)
• Puerto Peñasco: $2,700,000 pesos (4 applications)

What struck me most about the buyout is who is actually being taken care of in this plan. In the upper gulf, there is a distinction between fishermen and boat-owners. A boat-owner may hold the permits and own multiple pangas (local fishing boats), while hiring people to do the actual fishing for them.

So when statistics for the buyout, rent-out, switch-out, and really tallied, one has to take a note of caution. Boat-owners may be taken care of to a certain degree. Fishermen who are not boat-owners may actually slip through the cracks of this program.

Within all of this, I am still left scratching my head at the New York Times article stating the 800 fishers have been bought-out. Maybe they are counting each fisher that lost their job when the owner received funds for the ‘alternative livelihood’ project?

Fishing is an extremely competitive practice. Another question raised is who would want to change from a gill net to the alternative gear (including a trap or hook and line system) that catches far less, if others are still using gillnets and catching far more.

In the 2007 buyout, very few shrimp permits were eliminated. These are the most valuable of all of the permits a fishermen (or boat-owner) has. So this volunteer buyout may be just that, an expensive exercise in volunteer conservation.

Will it work?

The fishermen I spoke with told me that early rain in the season has helped ensure this is a “good” shrimp season. Because fishermen are generally doing well, the enforcement of the vaquita refuge has gone fairly well. The next shrimp season in 2009 will dictate a lot about whether this buyout will work or the law prohibiting gillnets in the vaquita refuge will still be enforced; especially if there is not a lot of rain, and therefore, less shrimp. I do know that we will have to wait for at least another year to see if the buyout plan is actually working and if the plan needs to change once again.

Mexico is investing millions of dollars to save the critically endangered species from extinction. Only 150 individuals remain.

Several communities in the region depend on the income derived from a gill net fishery that inadvertently drowns the world’s smallest marine mammal.

A band of local and international scientists, government officials, community groups, conservationists and media, will converge on the northern Gulf of California from September to November in an effort to work together to protect a species found nowhere else on earth.

To save the vaquita, the Government must also take care of the fishermen whose livelihoods are also at risk. The funds will be used not only to enforce fishing regulations in vaquita habitat, a protected biosphere reserve, but also to buy nets from fishermen.

The fisheries buyout plan would see the offending nets being taken out of the water, at the same time offering locals alternative methods of fishing, or training in new trades such as ecotourism. So far most fishermen are in agreement, but remain skeptical of the buyout plan.

Not quite two years ago, the world’s first cetacean species (whale, dolphin and porpoise) was declared functionally extinct as a direct result of human activity. The baiji, or Yangtze River dolphins demise, like the vaquita, was tied directly to drowning in fishing nets.

The baiji is gone, but there is a brief window of opportunity to ensure the vaquita is not lost as well.
The challenge ahead is vast, complex and uncertain. However, one thing is certain, the time has come to decide whether we want to live in a world without the vaquita.

References:

• Mexico starts campaign to save endangered porpoise – Associated Press.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5huX9gL4YKEv6nUfmm-bmBCsiSsqQD92MBOT80
• Video – Wake of the Baiji