Taking Down Mexico's Totoaba Cartels Helps with Vaquita Conservation

[Judi Lynn]

Two of the estimated nine vaquita that remain in the world swim in the Gulf of California. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Authorities in Mexico have dismantled cartels trafficking totoaba, a prized fish linked to the decline of endangered vaquita porpoises.

by Maxwell Radin
January 25, 2023 | 450 words, about 2 minutes

Some of Mexico’s most ambitious and successful wildlife traffickers are now in jail, officials announced January 3, 2023.

Mexico’s navy confirmed in a press conference that members of cartels dedicated to the trafficking of totoaba have been arrested and put in prison, effectively dismantling some of the main organized crime groups contributing to declining fish populations in the Gulf of California.

Since 2019, officials have managed to arrest seven members of the “Totoaba Cartel” and the leader of the “Cartel of the Sea,” both of whom targeted the endangered fish species for its treasured swim bladder, considered a delicacy when dried and sold at markets in China.

Now, those groups appear to be defunct, the navy says.

Totoaba bladders can go for between US $20,000 and $80,000 per kilogram, Mongabay previously reported, earning them the nickname “the cocaine of the sea.”

More:
https://hakaimagazine.com/news/taking-down-mexicos-totoaba-cartel-helps-with-vaquita-conservation/