The Vanishing Vaquita: A Call for Definitive Action

IF 5.6 1区农林科学 Q1 FISHERIES Fish and Fisheries Pub Date : 2025-01-24 DOI:10.1111/faf.12884

Pablo del Monte‐Luna, Salvador E. Lluch‐Cota, Andrew W. Trites, Andrés Cisneros‐Montemayor, Francisco Arreguín‐Sánchez, Edgar Alcántara‐Razo

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The world's smallest porpoise—the vaquita (Phocoena sinus)—is on the brink of extinction. Endemic to the upper Gulf of California, it has dwindled to fewer than 19 individuals in 2023. The primary source of mortality is drowning in gillnets set for totoaba (a giant croaker fish). Our review of the past 50 years of efforts to simultaneously attain conservation goals for the vaquita and economic and social goals for the fisheries concludes that they have consistently failed to meet the lowest expectations of any stakeholders. The time has therefore come to recognise that the only solution to this problem is to make an immediate and definitive decision: either preserve the vaquita or bolster sustainable fishing in the upper Gulf—and accept the associated social, economic, and political costs of either choice.

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来源期刊

Fish and Fisheries 农林科学-渔业

CiteScore

12.80

自引率

6.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Fish and Fisheries adopts a broad, interdisciplinary approach to the subject of fish biology and fisheries. It draws contributions in the form of major synoptic papers and syntheses or meta-analyses that lay out new approaches, re-examine existing findings, methods or theory, and discuss papers and commentaries from diverse areas. Focal areas include fish palaeontology, molecular biology and ecology, genetics, biochemistry, physiology, ecology, behaviour, evolutionary studies, conservation, assessment, population dynamics, mathematical modelling, ecosystem analysis and the social, economic and policy aspects of fisheries where they are grounded in a scientific approach. A paper in Fish and Fisheries must draw upon all key elements of the existing literature on a topic, normally have a broad geographic and/or taxonomic scope, and provide general points which make it compelling to a wide range of readers whatever their geographical location. So, in short, we aim to publish articles that make syntheses of old or synoptic, long-term or spatially widespread data, introduce or consolidate fresh concepts or theory, or, in the Ghoti section, briefly justify preliminary, new synoptic ideas. Please note that authors of submissions not meeting this mandate will be directed to the appropriate primary literature.