Publication

Vaquita Porpoise

Factual Record Regarding Submission SEM-21-002

Description

This factual record addresses the assertions contained in submission SEM-21-001 (Vaquita Porpoise) concerning alleged failures to effectively enforce the General Wildlife Act (Ley General de Vida Silvestre—LGVS) and its regulation (the “LGVS Regulation”), and various administrative orders aimed at protecting the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a species that is critically endangered due to the direct impacts of illegally fishing totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) in Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California (UGC). In addition to a summary of the response from the Government of Mexico (“the Party”), the factual record presents the information obtained by the Secretariat in the course of its preparation, including information about measures taken by the Party to address the issues raised in the submission.

LGVS Article 55 provides that any import, export, or re-export of specimens, parts, and derivatives of wild species included in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) must adhere to CITES, the LGVS, and any provisions flowing from them. Article 56 of the LGVS Regulation provides that any import, export, or re-export of biological material from species included in CITES must also adhere to the Convention. Both the vaquita and the totoaba are listed in CITES Appendix I, meaning that international trade in specimens of both species should be subject to particularly strict regulation. The “1975 Totoaba Fishing Ban” was promulgated in view of the declining population of totoaba and the special vulnerability of the species to commercial and sport fishing, given its limited area of distribution. The “2020 Gillnets Order” permanently bans all gillnets within a circumscribed area comprising the Zero Tolerance Area (Z0) and the Vaquita Refuge Area (VRA).

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