The Vaquita: A Last Stand for the World's Rarest Porpoise

The vaquita (Phocoena sinus), the world's smallest and most endangered marine mammal, is teetering on the brink of extinction. Endemic to the upper Gulf of California, fewer than 19 individuals remain in the wild as of 2023. Despite decades of conservation efforts, the species has continued to decline, primarily due to bycatch in illegal gillnet fishing for the totoaba fish (Totoaba macdonaldi). A new study published in Fish and Fisheries by Monte-Luna et al. (2025) highlights the urgent need for a decisive and final intervention to save the species.

A model life-sized model of the Vaquita porpoise (photo from www.savethewhales.org)

Why Have Conservation Efforts Failed?

The plight of the vaquita is deeply intertwined with the fate of the totoaba, a large croaker fish whose swim bladder is highly valued in the Chinese market, sometimes fetching prices as high as $80,000 per kilogram​. The lucrative nature of this illegal trade has fueled rampant illegal harvest, despite bans on totoaba fishing since the 1970s​. Gillnets, used to catch totoaba, entangle and drown vaquitas, leading to a catastrophic population decline.

Efforts to mitigate this crisis have included:

• Protected Areas & Fishing Bans: Since the 1990s, the Mexican government has implemented various conservation measures, including the creation of the Alto Golfo de California Biosphere Reserve in 1993​ and the banning of gillnets within vaquita habitat.

  
  

• Compensation Programs: The PACE-Vaquita plan (2008) sought to transition fishers to alternative livelihoods through financial incentives. However, the plan failed to yield significant results, with the vaquita population continuing to decline to just 60 individuals by 2016​.

  
  

• International Efforts & Captive Breeding Attempts: The international community has pressured Mexico to enforce conservation laws. A desperate 2017 attempt to capture vaquitas for a protected breeding program tragically failed when one captured individual died from stress​.

  
  

Despite these initiatives, illegal fishing persists, driven by economic hardship, organized crime, and weak enforcement. With so few individuals left, every lost vaquita pushes the species closer to extinction.

A Critical Crossroads: The Time to Choose

Monte-Luna et al. argue that conservationists and policymakers must face a stark reality: attempts to balance vaquita conservation with sustaining local fisheries have repeatedly failed​. The time has come to make a definitive choice:

1. A Strict Conservation Approach – Completely eliminate gillnet fishing in the upper Gulf, enforce anti-poaching measures rigorously, and protect the last remaining vaquitas at all costs.

   
   

2. Prioritizing Fisheries – Accept that the vaquita may go extinct and instead focus on sustaining the livelihoods of fishers and local communities.

   
   

Each choice carries significant ecological, economic, and ethical implications. Continuing half-measures, the authors argue, will only prolong the inevitable demise of the vaquita​.

A Glimmer of Hope?

Despite their critically low numbers, recent genetic studies suggest that vaquitas may not be doomed by inbreeding depression, meaning that if given a real chance to recover, they could still survive​. However, this requires urgent, uncompromising action.

The fate of the vaquita is a test of our commitment to protecting biodiversity. If we fail, we may soon witness the first human-driven extinction of a marine mammal since the baiji, China's Yangtze River dolphin, disappeared in 2006. The choice is ours, but time is running out.

References:

del Monte-Luna, P., Lluch-Cota, S.E., Trites, A.W., Cisneros-Montemayor, A., Arreguín-Sánchez, F. and Alcántara-Razo, E. (2025), The Vanishing Vaquita: A Call for Definitive Action. Fish Fish. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12884