I have shamefully neglected this blog for far far to long. I have had plenty of ideas for great posts but they never quite make it to the blog. Some stories that I want to share are just waiting for the right day so don't despair (or at least that is what I tell myself). But today, today I want to write about something that has been bothering me for a while and my social media streams remind me that today is the "right day" to write this post.
Today is apparently 'International save the vaquita day' but who of you have heard of the vaquita? what is a vaquita I hear many of you say as you look at me with blank faces. My friends and colleagues in the marine mammal world will likely raise an eyebrow at that question; who doesn't know what a vaquita is and the problems that they face?? Well, I can tell you most people probably don't know what a vaquita is. As an example, I was at BBQ the other weekend with friends, many of whom have (and continue) to spend much time in Mexico (I have never been to Mexico, but the importance of Mexico will become clear shortly). They did indeed look at me with confused expressions on their faces as I mentioned the plight of this little marine mammal. Then they asked 'what is a vaquita?'
Today is apparently 'International save the vaquita day' but who of you have heard of the vaquita? what is a vaquita I hear many of you say as you look at me with blank faces. My friends and colleagues in the marine mammal world will likely raise an eyebrow at that question; who doesn't know what a vaquita is and the problems that they face?? Well, I can tell you most people probably don't know what a vaquita is. As an example, I was at BBQ the other weekend with friends, many of whom have (and continue) to spend much time in Mexico (I have never been to Mexico, but the importance of Mexico will become clear shortly). They did indeed look at me with confused expressions on their faces as I mentioned the plight of this little marine mammal. Then they asked 'what is a vaquita?'
 Illustration by Uko Gorter |  That tiny blue spot is vaquita habitat.... |
The reality dawned on me, people just don't know! The vaquita (for all of you kind enough to read my blog but also reading with confused expressions, wondering the exact same thing) is a small porpoise. It is only found in the extreme northern part of the Gulf of California, Baja Mexico. This little marine mammal is critically endangered and is facing extinction. This year the population is estimated to be only 60. Yes only 60 of these little guys are left in the whole world. 10 years ago there were 600. This makes the vaquita the most endangered marine mammal in the world. Yet no one really knows they even exist, let alone that they are rapidly heading towards extinction.
Infographic from the Nerus Program, University of British Columbia. Designed by L. Lafreniere. Cisneros-Montemayor and Vincent 2016
I see plenty of posts in my social media streams calling for the conservation of this little mammal, bemoaning it's plight and calling it criminal that this species will be allowed to go extinct. But the reality is that these well meaning posts are really only going out to those who already know about the problem. You may feel good about sharing a post, spreading the word on the vaquita's plight but what are you really doing? Who are you getting the message to and how does it really help? (and I am guilty of this too, don't get me wrong). But should we really be so surprised that those not in the conservation world, or the marine mammal science world don't know about the vaquita?
To be fair there are more focused efforts to save the vaquita, both from within Mexico and further afield. This past December the Society for Marine Mammalogy awarded the Conservation Merit Award to acknowledge the efforts of Mexico's scientists, government officials, environmentalists and fishermen in their efforts to save the little porpoise. There is the group Viva Vaquita whose mission is to raise awareness through public education
But bringing back the vaquita from the brink of extinction will be an impossible feat. While their main threats may be through bycatch (being caught in fishing nets), in the totoba fishery, this is not the sole problem. There are deep underlying issues linked to the regions' ecosystem degradation that have resulted wider social issues. My colleague at UBC, Dr. Andres Cisneros-Montemayor pointed this out earlier this year that the problems of overfishing, and hence bycatch cannot be addressed through banning fishing. The problems of the vaquita are explicitly linked to the socio-economic conditions of the region within which the vaquita lives.
To be fair there are more focused efforts to save the vaquita, both from within Mexico and further afield. This past December the Society for Marine Mammalogy awarded the Conservation Merit Award to acknowledge the efforts of Mexico's scientists, government officials, environmentalists and fishermen in their efforts to save the little porpoise. There is the group Viva Vaquita whose mission is to raise awareness through public education
But bringing back the vaquita from the brink of extinction will be an impossible feat. While their main threats may be through bycatch (being caught in fishing nets), in the totoba fishery, this is not the sole problem. There are deep underlying issues linked to the regions' ecosystem degradation that have resulted wider social issues. My colleague at UBC, Dr. Andres Cisneros-Montemayor pointed this out earlier this year that the problems of overfishing, and hence bycatch cannot be addressed through banning fishing. The problems of the vaquita are explicitly linked to the socio-economic conditions of the region within which the vaquita lives.
People need to fish because they need to provide for their families. For these communities fishing is the only thing that they can do. There are no other opportunities except for fishing.
At present there is no incentive for local people to conserve the vaquita, what is in it for them? Andres gets to the point that most, if not all the other media and conservation campaigns to save the vaquita have failed to highlight. This is a socio-economic problem that cannot be solved through ecology and conservation. We need to instead focus our efforts on addressing the underlying problems. For the vaquita this will likely be too late but for other species threatened with extinction perhaps not. Perhaps the vaquita will be our canary in the coal mine to shift how we address conservation problems around the world, and see governments and conservation groups working with local communities to empower them to manage their own resources and ultimately conserve both their resources and their regions as a whole.
I strongly encourage you to both find out about the vaquita as well as read the Nerus Program press release and Andres' article on why we must consider social and economic factors in our bid to save endangered species.
I strongly encourage you to both find out about the vaquita as well as read the Nerus Program press release and Andres' article on why we must consider social and economic factors in our bid to save endangered species.
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