MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1992 
subcommittee on small cetaceans regarding the 
vaquita. The Committee concluded that the vaquita is 
the world’s most endangered marine cetacean and 
recommended that (1) action be taken to fully enforce 
the closure of the totoaba fishery; (2) immediate 
action be taken to halt illegal shipments of totoaba 
into the United States; and (3) a management plan be 
developed for the vaquita and its habitat that includes 
(a) an evaluation of incidental take of vaquita in 
fisheries, (b) development of alternative fishing 
methods and other economically viable activities to 
reduce further vaquita mortality in the illegal totoaba 
fishery, (c) development of programs to increase 
awareness of the vaquita among fishermen and the 
public, and (d) monitoring the status and improving 
knowledge of the population biology of the species. 
Efforts To Strengthen Import Restrictions 
In November 1991 the Marine Mammal Commis- 
sion wrote to the National Marine Fisheries Service 
and the Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the status 
and conservation needs of the vaquita. The Commis- 
sion noted that illegal importation of totoaba appeared 
to be continuing and that the species was most often 
brought into the United States in the form of fillets. 
This made it impossible to distinguish totoaba from 
closely related species by visual inspection. Therefore 
the Marine Mammal Commission recommended that 
the Southwest Fisheries Science Center and the Fish 
and Wildlife Service’s Forensics Laboratory work to 
develop a test to distinguish totoaba fillets from other 
fish fillets imported into the United States. The 
Commission recommended that once this was 
achieved, the two Services (1) establish a cooperative 
program with Mexico to coordinate efforts to enforce 
the longstanding Mexican prohibition on totoaba 
fishing and the prohibition on importing totoaba into 
the United States, and (2) establish programs to 
inform the public about the endangered 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. 
On 4 December 1991 the National Marine Fisher- 
ies Service issued a permit to the Southwest Fisheries 
Science Center to collect and import one whole frozen 
totoaba specimen for use in describing distinctive 
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characteristics of totoaba muscle tissue and in devel- 
oping a technique for biochemically differentiating 
totoaba fillets from closely related species. In July 
1992, researchers at the Southeast Fisheries Science 
Center analyzed the totoaba specimen, isolated pro- 
teins unique to totoaba, and successfully developed a 
technique to distinguish, by biochemical means, 
totoaba from related species. 
In 1993 substantial efforts are planned at the U.S.- 
Mexican border to intercept and seize totoaba. 
Presumably, successful seizures will result in legal 
action against those seeking to import this species. 
Other Actions Taken in 1992 
On 13 February 1992 the Mexican Secretary for 
Fisheries published a regulation that again placed a 
complete ban on the use of large mesh gillnets in the 
northern Gulf of California. The action reinforced the 
original June 1975 ban on the capture of totoaba and 
assigned responsibility to the Mexican Navy to 
enforce the ban. 
On 2 March 1992 the President of Mexico, through 
the Secretary for Fisheries, established the Comite 
Tecnico para la Preservacion de la Totoaba y la 
Vaquita (Technical Committee for the Preservation of 
the Totoaba and the Vaquita). It is comprised of 
scientists, educators, policy makers, and representa- 
tives of concerned institutions and agencies. The 
objectives of the Committee are to plan, evaluate, and 
coordinate research on the totoaba and vaquita and to 
recommend actions to preserve both species. The 
Committee consists of eight groups charged with 
assessing, quantifying, or reviewing (1) the distribu- 
tion and incidental mortality levels of the vaquita, 
(2) the biology and ecology of the vaquita and the 
totoaba, (3) environmental impacts, (4) regional 
fishing activities, (5) plans for managing the region’s 
resources, (6) economic alternatives for gillnet fisher- 
men, (7) enforcement of regulations, and (8) educa- 
tion of fishermen and the general public about con- 
serving marine resources in the northern Gulf of 
California. 
The Committee met three times in 1992 and among 
other things it identified a series of research projects, 
some of which were started in 1992. For example, 
