Cetacean Action Treasury
Rescuing the vaquita porpoise and securing a sustainable fishing future for the Upper Gulf of California with Mexican partners.
www.cetact.org
- Ginormous gillnet ban area which only ever existed only on paper to be replaced by the #Vaquita Refuge where the few porpoises actually live now live & is more realistic to protect & respect. No more "simulation" of #vaquita-safe fishing; gillnets to be legal in lower risk areas x.com/SEMARNAT_mx...
- Fishers with permits for #vaquita-safe gear have been illegally gillnetting in their panga skiffs in the Vaquita Refuge for years (example Dec 2020 @SeaShepherdSSCS @IUCNCetaceanSG) Will vaquitas finally have a safe refuge if Mexican government legalizes gillnetting outside it?
- A #vaquita post went viral on the other site. Our reply: Let's thank & support people at Pronatura Noroeste & Pesca ABC who are the only ones in the communities dedicated to securing a future for both porpoises & people, changing fishing practices & building conservation motivation & responsibility.
- Keep those Panchito memes coming
- Cetacean cuties 💙
- Still far away from the Upper Gulf of California, our wandering southern elephant seal Panchito has swum to rest 30 km south in Nayarit, from Playa Los Alaya to Playa Careyeros x.com/ernesto_men...
- Another cetacean stranding on San Felipe beaches this month; authorities are investigating oem.com.mx/lavozdelafro...
- Appreciate your vid @sciantsmedia.com! The 2025 survey covered only part of #vaquita known recent range, so the estimated number 7-10 seen (67% probability) should be interpreted as “there are at least this many vaquitas surviving.” Most hopeful is that includes 1-2 calves, evidence of reproduction!
- And now for the good news - after many months San Felipe's favorite ⭐ wandering southern elephant seal Panchito has reappeared in the southern Gulf of California, fat, apparently happy & safeguarded by locals & authorities aristeguinoticias.com/2701/natural...
- Like their croaker cousin Gulf curvina, #totoaba may be arriving earlier this year to spawn in #vaquita habitat. @PROFEPA_Mx reports securing two totoaba gillnets along with four shrimp nets January 23-25. The large mesh totoaba net pictured appears to be a washed up ghost net. x.com/i/status/20...
- "We transform polluting plastics into products with porpoise" - with NAWAL company @PronaturaNoroes is working with women in the #vaquita habitat community of Santa Clara to recycle fishing nets & other plastic trash into crafts & souvenirs that tell an environmental story. x.com/i/status/20...
- Mexico honors fishermen & fisher women today. @Conapesca recently published a comprehensive guide to the country's closed seasons for marine & freshwater fisheries (in reply), which are important to respect for sustainability. x.com/i/status/20...
- Wow @colossal @BenLamm showed #vaquita porpoise Frida & her calf to Davos @wef 🤩 x.com/i/status/20...
- First time annual catch quota for Gulf curvina in #vaquita habitat on a per vessel basis: 6000 kg for each of 737 skiffs with permits. @IMIPASmex analysis shows quota has been exceeded in recent years. With its early start in Dec & huge hauls this one could be one of the worst. x.com/i/status/20...
- Transparency & marine mammal bycatch monitoring & mitigation needed to regain access to US market under #MMPA but gillnets largely will remain unacceptable for bycatch risk- 14 (2/3s) of the 21 Mexican fisheries banned by @fisheries.noaa.gov are gillnet fisheries causanaturamedia.com/es/notas/opa...
- Bilateral MX-US annual fisheries meeting yesterday important for #vaquita conservation - need to resolve #USMCA & #Pelly compliance processes, & to prevent Upper Gulf gillnetted shrimp laundering into US under stricter #MMPA Certificate of Admissibility enforcement. www.facebook.com/share/p/1Gwr...
- 1/2 our contribution to answering this question by @jrios-figueroa.bsky.social judicature.duke.edu/articles/mex...
- 👀 Ten US Senators call on @fisheries.noaa.gov to prohibit imports of red snapper from Mexico - "illegal fishing via cartel-linked supply chains undermines US conservation & enforcement efforts" www.cassidy.senate.gov/wp-content/u...
- "How is it possible that in a world where evidence of environmental collapse is overwhelming, govts continue to choose destruction? The #vaquita porpoise has less than ten confirmed specimens in 2025, yet environmental agencies SEMARNAT & PROFEPA are defunded." aristeguinoticias.com/160126/natur...
- Spring spawning cousin of the #totoaba, the Gulf curvina, arrived to #vaquita habitat early, first off San Felipe & now Santa Clara. The "recommendation not to catch it now" & wait for the quota & spring lunar tides when production is highest is not being respected. oem.com.mx/tribunadesan...
- With the gulf curvina spawning migration in Mexico's Upper Gulf of California underway early, their larger & more endangered cousin the totoaba, typically poached with large-mesh gillnets deadly for the #vaquita, won't be far behind. Totoaba pen & ink drawing Stephanie Dziezyk, Tricaudae Studio
- The full September #2025 #vaquita survey report is now published in Spanish by CONANP www.conanp.gob.mx/vaquita_mari...
- Happy 10th Anniversary to Pesca Alternativa de Baja California Pesca ABC @pescaabc today 🙌
- In the middle of winter, a #vaquita porpoise quilt for warmth by textile artist Alejandra Alcántara @Alexandra408
- This kind of closed season gillnetting puts at risk not only #vaquita porpoises but also Upper Gulf community co-management potential & livelihood sustainability, as well as Mexico's efforts to restore US seafood trade through improved fishery governance for marine mammal bycatch mitigation.
- Mexico's Upper Gulf coordination forum #GIS hasn't met since last July. Fishers are demanding a high-level meeting with authorities to resolve their livelihood crisis with action on negotiated amendments to the 2020 gillnet ban for a better future for #vaquita porpoises & people
- According to Conapesca 2025 summary published yesterday, 848 panga fishing skiffs are now being monitored with SEMAR (Navy) in #vaquita habitat in the Upper Gulf of California, as part of Mexico's CITES compliance action plan & as required by its 2020 gillnet ban regulation
- It's true that Mexico is the American country with the most @unesco.org World Heritage sites (36), but it also has the world's only marine site listed as In Danger, with its status re-assessed as Critical in October 2025, due to gillnet entanglement extinction risk for the #vaquita porpoise.
- Mucho work for Mexico in 2026 under US #MMPA seafood import bans. For 65% of 650 Customs codes, shipments must have a @Conapesca Certificate of Admissibility testifying they are not from prohibited fisheries, which include over 65 individual species & groups from #vaquita habitat
- Grateful to all those who worked in 2025 towards a sustainable Upper Gulf future for #vaquita porpoises & people. Good tidings for New Year 2026!
- It was different on the other site, but on Bluesky we are aligned with our audience - our favorite 2025 post was also yours 💙 Good news from the 2025 #vaquita survey: evidence of reproduction, none of a continued steep decline, & acoustic detection of porpoises where they haven't been heard in years
