Council Resolution: 07-13
Distribution: General
C/C.01/07/RES/13/Final
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
27 June 2007
Instruction to the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) to initiate collaborative actions to recover the vaquita and promote sustainable local livelihoods
THE COUNCIL:
RECOGNIZING that the vaquita (Phocoena sinus) is one of the most endangered marine mammals in the world due to bycatch;
FURTHER RECOGNIZING that international cooperation among Canada, Mexico and the United States has played a major role in the recovery of other marine mammals, such as gray whales;
NOTING that the vaquita’s limited habitat range falls within the CEC’s Priority Conservation Area 25, the Upper Gulf of California, and that it is listed as one of the 33 North American Species of Common Conservation Concern;
ACKNOWLEDGING that the complex interconnections between the economic, social and environmental factors in this transboundary region call for urgent, concerted strategic actions;
REAFFIRMING the need for regional concerted action to recover the vaquita population, while promoting local socio-economic development; and
FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGING the leadership of Mexico in forging a regional alliance to integrate and coordinate conservation and sustainable development initiatives to effectively stop vaquita bycatch and habitat degradation, and promote sustainable livelihoods;
HEREBY AGREES TO:
INSTRUCT the Secretariat to initiate North American cooperative efforts through the development of a North American Conservation Action Plan (NACAP) for the vaquita, to address the urgent aim of eliminating its incidental mortality and support Mexico’s recovery strategy for the vaquita population;
SUPPORT the exchange of information for decision making, as part of the development of a NACAP, on matters such as, but not limited to: best fishing practices and bycatch; vaquita population health and status; the condition of its habitat; and key socio-economic stressors with regard to the vaquita;
EXPLORE, in the development of the NACAP, sustainable economic and trade activities to alleviate pressure on the vaquita population and its key habitat, while promoting the socio-economic development of local communities;
PROMOTE, in the NACAP, the implementation of capacity building activities in the Upper Gulf of California, such as: training in the use of alternative fishing gear, enforcement techniques, and community training in sustainable practices that will not only promote vaquita recovery but also that will protect fishery resources;
SUPPORT, under the NACAP, coordination with local, national and international nongovernmental organizations involved in the conservation of the vaquita and its habitat, and preserve the livelihoods of local fishermen; and
DIRECT that an amount not to exceed C$70,000 be allocated from the CEC General Fund in financial year 2007 to study the scope and coordinate the development of the NACAP for the vaquita.
APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL:
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John Baird
Government of Canada
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Juan Elvira Quesada
Government of the United Mexican States
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Stephen L. Johnson
Government of the United States of America
Instruction to the Secretariat to initiate collaborative actions to recover the vaquita and promote sustainable local livelihoods