In this article Ben Goldfarb writes about the endangered vaquita, the world’s most endangered marine mammal, and he explains how and why this unique animal is being pushed to extinction. The vaquita is the world’s smallest cetacean that lives solely in the narrow body of water that runs from the Baja peninsula to Mexico and it is currently on the brink of extinction due to being trapped in the nets fishermen use to illegally capture totoaba. Totoaba are large fish (the size of a football linebacker) and they are sought after for their bladders, which is a delicacy that also is believed to have medical purposes in China. Because the totoaba’s bladder can fetch a price of up to $20,000 a piece on the black market, fishermen are more than willing
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Because the totoaba bladders fetch such a high price on the black market, law-abiding fishermen would not be the problem, but those who are criminals are. These poachers are in the fishing business to make a profit and could not care less if other marine life is harmed in their efforts to become rich. Morally it seems like protecting the vaquita is the obvious choice to make, but many still partake in activities that put the marine mammal at risk because to some, the prospect of making money outweighs the negative effects of their …show more content…
The vaquita’s habitat is spans between the Baja Peninsula and Mexico, and because of this there are many Mexican fishermen who attempt to catch totoaba to fill the demand for “maw” or dried fish bladder that the Chinese desired. In addition to this, U.S. consumers are also to blame for pushing the vaquita to near extinction as one of the upper Gulf’s most valuable fisheries (The Blue Shrimp) serves 80% of all the seafood it catches to restaurants in the United States. This fishery does not uses vaquita friendly fishing gear and because U.S. consumers are not willing to pay more for shrimp or other seafood that has been captured with vaquita friendly gear, the fishermen have no incentive to switch to the vaquita safe version of their equipment. Because of this, the issue of the vaquita being on the brink of extinction can be traced to multiple countries that must all make changes if the vaquita is to
Because the totoaba bladders fetch such a high price on the black market, law-abiding fishermen would not be the problem, but those who are criminals are. These poachers are in the fishing business to make a profit and could not care less if other marine life is harmed in their efforts to become rich. Morally it seems like protecting the vaquita is the obvious choice to make, but many still partake in activities that put the marine mammal at risk because to some, the prospect of making money outweighs the negative effects of their …show more content…
The vaquita’s habitat is spans between the Baja Peninsula and Mexico, and because of this there are many Mexican fishermen who attempt to catch totoaba to fill the demand for “maw” or dried fish bladder that the Chinese desired. In addition to this, U.S. consumers are also to blame for pushing the vaquita to near extinction as one of the upper Gulf’s most valuable fisheries (The Blue Shrimp) serves 80% of all the seafood it catches to restaurants in the United States. This fishery does not uses vaquita friendly fishing gear and because U.S. consumers are not willing to pay more for shrimp or other seafood that has been captured with vaquita friendly gear, the fishermen have no incentive to switch to the vaquita safe version of their equipment. Because of this, the issue of the vaquita being on the brink of extinction can be traced to multiple countries that must all make changes if the vaquita is to