Permits & Equipment: Vaquita Conservation in the Gulf of California

Location

Gulf of California, Mexico

Description

This case study was presented in June 2008 at the workshop, A Private Sector Approach – Conservation Agreements in Support of Marine Protection. The information below is a short abstract of the case study. A complete case study will be posted on the toolkit prior to October 2008.

Vaquita. Photo courtesy Environmental News Network

Several options are being explored in Baja California for private marine and coastal conservation to complement and augment existing protection strategies. Coastal zone concessions, coastal land acquisitions, kelp concessions, water rights acquisitions, and fishing buy-outs provide several tools for non-governmental organizations to choose from. This case study will highlight the vaquita project, which is a collaborative project being undertaken by several government agencies and non-governmental organizations. The vaquita is Mexico’s only endemic cetacean. The smallest living cetacean, the vaquita is one of only six extant species of the family Phocoenidae, the so-called true porpoises. The vaquita is critically endangered and on a rapid path to extinction due in large part to artisanal fishing practices in the Upper Gulf of California. A public-private buyout effort and the leasing of gillnets are being used in a strategy to protect the vaquita from extinction.1

Contact Information

Steve Cox, Vice President and Director of Marine Program in Mexico
World Wildlife Fund
1250 Twenty-Fourth Street, N.W.
P.O. Box 97180
Washington, DC 20090-7180
Tel: 202-861-8369
Fax: 202-778-9637
Email: steve.cox@wwfus.org

Marianne Kleiberg, Director
South Baja California Program, The Nature Conservancy
Av Alvaro Obregon #460
Edificio Cornejo, Local 206, La Paz, Col Centro
México – Baja California
Tel: 521-125-9444
E-mail: mkleiberg@tnc.org

See Also

Tiny Mexican Porpoise Near Extinct from Fish Nets