A new report from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), established under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), confirms that Mexico’s ongoing failure to enforce its own environmental and fisheries laws is accelerating the extinction of the critically endangered vaquita porpoise.
The vaquita, found only in Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California, continues to be caught and killed in illegal gillnets used to catch shrimp and totoaba, a fish whose bladder is trafficked on the black market. Despite a 2020 ban on gillnets, the CEC’s report shows that illegal fishing persists at nearly the same levels, with limited enforcement and widespread rule-breaking.
Fewer than 10 vaquita remain in the wild. Though acoustic monitoring earlier this year detected signs of survival in protected areas, the species remains on the brink of extinction. Illegal fishing continues just outside the designated “zero tolerance” zone, and enforcement is too weak to stop it.
“This report confirms a heartbreaking reality. Illegal gillnet fishing is squeezing the last breaths out of the poor vaquita,” said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Mexico needs to shut down all gillnet fishing immediately and start round the clock enforcement throughout the vaquita’s habitat to give these little porpoises even a sliver of hope.”
The report uncovered that illegal catches are frequently diverted to alternative processors, which weakens regulatory oversight. Mexico has not met vital targets under a CITES compliance plan, such as implementing vessel tracking systems. As of mid-2025, a mere 10 of the 850 promised trackers were operational.
“The commission’s report documents how insatiable demand for totoaba maw incentivizes the illegal take of this endangered species,” said DJ Schubert, senior wildlife biologist at the Animal Welfare Institute. “Transnational criminal networks engaged in the trafficking of totoaba parts won’t stop until Mexico and its trade partners step up enforcement and prosecute the kingpins.”
This critical investigation follows a 2021 petition from four environmental groups. Although a factual record was approved in 2022, political delays postponed its release until now. With the report now public, the U.S. may now escalate pressure on Mexico through USMCA mechanisms, potentially leading to trade penalties if enforcement doesn’t improve.
The survival of the Vaquita, the rarest marine mammal on earth, now depends on immediate, decisive action.
