Vaquita populations have been in steady decline since the species was first discovered in the late 1950s. This decline is caused primarily by the use of gill-nets for fishing in the gulf. Vaquita get stuck in these nets and drown. Although gill-nets are used to catch a variety of fish species, it is the blue shrimp that has been targeted by fisherman most often since the 1950s.
Up until just a few years ago it was this high demand for the blue shrimp that was driving the Vaquita’s decline, and the population was losing roughly 4% of its individuals each year from by-catch. While this may not seem like a particularly high rate of population decline, for a species such as the Vaquita that is long-lived and has low reproductive rates, a 4% annual population decline is not sustainable.
Today, the threat to the Vaquita is even more dire. In recent years the demand for the swim bladders of a fish called the totoaba has skyrocketed. A single swim bladder from this fish can sell for $10,000 or more! Although it is illegal to harvest the totoaba, the reward for catching one is so high that fisherman largely have ignored this law. As a direct result of this situation, the Vaquita population is now declining at a rate of roughly 18% each year. Not only is this unsustainable, but if nothing dramatic is done to address this situation the species is predicted to be extinct in 3 years.
Banner photo credit: Paula Olson