Today @Cites #SC79 requested Mexico to fully achieve & report on its #vaquita #totoaba action plan to #SC81 (approx 1 year). US amendment for Secretariat to consider relevant info from other sources unnecessary as @Ben_J_v_R confirmed that Sec does so without explicit mention.

2/3 A reporter was served illegal #totoaba swim bladder soup in Mexicali's Chinatown, & a fisherman, asked how long it had been since he last hauled up an entangled #vaquita in his gillnet, replied "three days."

1/3 Amazing @nmas #vaquita retrospective with film from 30 years ago, interviewing Caterina D'Agrosa, lead researcher on the only study to properly quantify the level of gillnet bycatch. Entanglement was all too common, & fishers were willing to bring the carcasses back to her.
x.com/nmas/status...

Viral video is one of dozens of Upper Gulf fishers making new shrimp gillnets. It's illegal to make them & use them, but because everyone is doing it, no one is punished. And they shouldn't be, they obviously are not criminals & not seeking to cause harm to #vaquita. Solution ⬇️

3/4 Acoustic & visual monitoring provides scientific backing for government dialogue with fishing community, says @SEMARNAT_mx @mroblesg, on adjusting rules for specialized protection zones in the short term, & builds the knowledge for the long term perspective for full recovery

2/4 & to guide selection of visual search areas as partners work to develop observation capability aboard original Upper Gulf #vaquita research vessel Koipai Yuxa, covered 21 years ago by @RafaGuadarrama, back in San Felipe thanks to #ENDESU @CONANP_mx @PronaturaNoroes @cedo_mex