MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



totoaba into the United States. The Committee also 

 recommended that a management plan for the vaquita 

 and its habitat be developed to include: (1) an evalua- 

 tion of incidental take of vaquita in fisheries; (2) 

 development of alternative fishing methods and other 

 economically viable activities to reduce further vaquita 

 mortality in the illegal totoaba fishery; (3) develop- 

 ment of educational programs to increase awareness of 

 the vaquita among fishermen and the general public; 

 and (4) monitoring the status and improving knowl- 

 edge of the population biology of the species. 



Acting on the advice of its Scientific Committee, 

 the International Whaling Commission adopted a 

 resolution asking the Committee to collect information 

 on small cetacean species, including the vaquita, that 

 are subject to significant direct or incidental take in 

 fisheries. The results of this work were forwarded to 

 the United Nations for use in preparing for its Confer- 

 ence on Environment and Development scheduled to 

 meet in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 1-12 June 1992 

 (see Chapter IV). 



On 11-14 September 1991, researchers at the 

 Southwest Fisheries Science Center undertook a 

 cooperative research program with the Instituto 

 Nacional de Pesca, La Paz, Mexico, to conduct an 

 experimental aerial survey of vaquita habitat. The 

 survey covered 709 miles over three and one-half days 

 during which one certain sighting of two vaquitas was 

 made. Because of the low number of sightings, the 

 survey methods, the turbidity of the water at the time 

 of the survey, and the extent of vaquita habitat not 

 covered by the survey, the survey did not result in a 

 reliable estimate of the vaquita population. The 

 researchers recommended that a much larger scale 

 survey be conducted, either by air or, preferably, by 

 ship, in order to develop a reliable population estimate 

 for the vaquita. 



On 1 November 1991, the Marine Manmial Com- 

 mission wrote to the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service regarding 

 the status and conservation needs of the vaquita and 

 enforcement of the prohibition on the import of 

 totoaba into the United States. The Commission noted 

 that, since totoaba was listed both as endangered 

 under the Endangered Species Act and on Appendix 

 I of the Convention on International Trade in Endan- 



gered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, its importa- 

 tion into the United States was illegal. The Commis- 

 sion also noted that totoaba imports apparently still 

 occur, often disguised as sea bass, and are most often 

 brought into the United States as fish fillets, a form in 

 which it is difficult to identify the species. The 

 Conmiission therefore recommended that the South- 

 west Fisheries Science Center and the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service's Forensics Laboratory coordinate 

 efforts to develop a test to identify totoaba imported 

 into the United States. The Conmiission also recom- 

 mended that, once this has been achieved, the Servic- 

 es: (1) establish a cooperative program with Mexico 

 to coordinate enforcement activities for the longstand- 

 ing Mexican prohibition on totoaba fishing and to stop 

 entry of totoaba into the United States, and (2) estab- 

 lish programs to inform the public about the endan- 

 gered status of the vaquita and the totoaba, the link 

 between the two species, applicable prohibitions of the 

 Endangered Species Act, and the consequences of 

 violating the Act's provisions. 



On 4 December 1991, the National Marine Fisher- 

 ies Service published a notice in the Federal Register 

 that it was issuing a permit to the Southwest Fisheries 

 Science Center for die collection and importation of 

 one whole ft-ozen totoaba specimen. The notice stated 

 that the specimen would be analyzed by the National 

 Seafood Inspection Laboratory to determine distin- 

 guishing characteristics of totoaba muscle tissue that 

 would enable the Service to identify totoaba fillets and 

 take measures to stop illegal importation. 



A review of all available information on the 

 population biology and incidental mortality of the 

 vaquita was presented at the Ninth Biennial Confer- 

 ence on the Biology of Marine Mammals in Chicago, 

 Illinois, on 5-9 December 1991. The review, con- 

 ducted at the Instituto Tecnoldgico y de Estudios 

 Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico, concluded that, 

 given the vaquita's low population size and high rate 

 of incidental mortality and the difficulty in enforcing 

 conservation measures for the species, the vaquita is 

 in imminent danger of extinction. 



At the end of 1991, the Commission was awaiting 

 responses to its 1 November 1991 letters to the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and 



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