Mexico replaces vaquita fishing rules; groups say gillnet ban zone shrinks 86%
- Gillnet ban area cut to 1,562 square kilometers, groups say
- Transit channel crosses vaquita Zero Tolerance Area
- Small-boat monitoring deadline tied to budget approval
Photo: Wikimedia Commons - Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0MEXICO CITY, Oct 14 — Mexico's agriculture, environment and navy ministries published an agreement on Wednesday that sets new fishing rules for the northern Gulf of California, including a permanent gillnet ban area meant to protect the vaquita marina.1
The Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Animal Welfare Institute said in a statement that the agreement cuts the gillnet ban zone by about 86%, from more than 11,000 square kilometers to 1,562 square kilometers.2
The groups said about 10 vaquitas remain, compared with nearly 600 in 1997, according to scientific estimates.2
The agreement, signed Oct. 13 and published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación (DOF) on Oct. 14, takes effect the day after publication.1 It replaces an agreement published on Sept. 24, 2020.1
The agreement bans all fishing in the gillnet ban area between 19:00 and 5:00.1 It bans fishing and navigation in a 225-square-kilometer Zero Tolerance Area, but it allows licensed small fishing boats with satellite monitoring to pass through a transit channel without stopping.1
It also creates a Special Use Area where only free diving or hooka diving with a compressor is allowed.1
Fishermen who use gillnets in the ban area face fines of 101 to 1,000 times Mexico's Unidad de Medida y Actualización, the agreement says.1
The National Commission of Aquaculture and Fisheries (CONAPESCA) is to install tamper-proof monitoring systems on small boats within 12 months of the budget being authorized.1
Alejandro Olivera of the Center for Biological Diversity said the government was legalizing fishing that it had not been able, or had not wanted, to stop.2