Vaquitas On The Brink Of Extinction As Groups Launch Legal Fight To Restore Gillnet Ban Areas
Photo courtesy of Save The Whales
For vaquitas, every surviving mother and calf represents a chance for the species to recover. Conservation groups are now asking a Mexican court to stop fishing rules they warn could put that fragile future at greater risk.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Conservación de Mamíferos Marinos de México (Comarino), and Greenpeace México announced their legal challenge on November 6, targeting regulations published on October 14, 2026.
At the center of the dispute is a substantial reduction in the waters covered by Mexico’s gillnet ban. The organizations report that the prohibited area is approximately 86% smaller than under the protections established in 2020. They are seeking to suspend the new rules and argue that the public was denied a meaningful opportunity to review and comment on the changes.
“The government made a decision with potentially catastrophic consequences for the vaquita without giving the public a meaningful chance to examine the proposed boundaries and respond,” said Alex Olivera, Mexico representative at the Center for Biological Diversity. “With only about 10 of these little porpoises left, Mexico should be enforcing rules in the vaquita’s entire habitat, not legalizing gillnets in waters that should be protected. Vaquitas don’t follow maps, and scientists have repeatedly seen them outside the zero tolerance area.”
During a 2025 survey, researchers estimated that they most likely observed seven to 10 individual vaquitas, including at least one calf and possibly a second. The survey was supported by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Mexico’s National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP). These findings reflect animals observed within the study area, not a count of the entire surviving population.
A May 2026 expedition recorded three brief sightings, all outside the Zero Tolerance Area, according to Mexico’s protected-areas agency. These observations reinforce the importance of safeguarding the surrounding waters vaquitas also use.
For the remaining vaquitas, survival depends on waters free of deadly gillnets. In an October 30 assessment, scientists explained that the smaller gillnet-ban area still includes all locations where vaquitas were detected in 2025, but stressed that legal boundaries alone cannot keep the animals safe without effective enforcement.
The assessment also highlighted an urgent need to protect mothers and calves using northwestern waters. A recommendation to expand the stricter Zero Tolerance Area into those waters and install concrete blocks with hooks to deter gillnets remained unimplemented as of October 30.
Vaquitas have already suffered devastating losses because of human activity. Mexico must act now to keep deadly gillnets out of their habitat and give these critically endangered mammals a chance to recover and help prevent their extinction in the wild.
