Chapter III — Species of Special Concern 
two boat surveys were done in 1992 yielding one 
definite and two probable sightings of vaquitas. 
On 22 April 1992 the President of Mexico signed 
a collaborative agreement with the Cousteau Society 
to establish a program for the protection and recovery 
of the vaquita and the totoaba. Among other things, 
the agreement declares the Gulf of California to be a 
marine sanctuary and prohibits fishing methods that 
kill or injure either vaquitas or totoabas. The exact 
size of the sanctuary, however, has not been estab- 
lished. The declaration also calls for participation by 
the Cousteau Society in an educational awareness 
program on both species for fishermen, fishing 
industry personnel, and the general public. 
During 1992 the Marine Mammal Commission 
worked with a coalition, organized by Conservation 
International, of non-governmental organizations, 
Federal agencies, and private foundations, to review 
and consider a proposal from Mexican and U.S. 
researchers to examine the economic impact of fishing 
restrictions in the northern Gulf of California and to 
provide recommendations on economic alternatives. 
The project calls for developing a geographic informa- 
tion system to identify and track ecological changes in 
critical areas; examining the economic impact of 
eliminating certain problem fisheries; and studying life 
history parameters and mortality rates of vaquitas. 
The project received partial funding in 1992 from 
several organizations, and additional support is 
expected in 1993. 
On 28 May 1992 Defenders of Wildlife petitioned 
the Secretary of Commerce to issue regulations 
requiring that bony fish entering the United States 
from the Gulf of California have intact heads and 
tails, thus permitting the visual identification of 
totoaba by enforcement agents. The action, requested 
under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Endan- 
gered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection 
Act, and the Lacey Act, sought to stop the importation 
of illegally caught totoaba. The group also asked that, 
if this ruling were not expedited, the Department of 
Commerce list the five finfish species closely related 
to totoaba as endangered under the “similarity of 
appearance” provision of the Endangered Species Act. 
By the end of 1992, the National Marine Fisheries 
Service had not ruled on the petition. 
1 
Recognizing the need for an agreed framework for 
coordination of the many international efforts to 
protect the vaquita, the Marine Mammal Commission 
consulted with the chairman of Mexico’s Technical 
Committee for the Preservation of the Totoaba and the 
Vaquita about whether the Commission might usefully 
provide assistance for the development of a recovery 
plan. The idea was acceptable and support was 
provided for the chairman to develop a vaquita 
recovery plan (see Chapter X) to encourage, guide, 
and coordinate research, conservation, and manage- 
ment efforts by environmental organizations, research 
institutions, and government agencies of Mexico and 
the United States. The preliminary draft recovery 
plan calls for the following actions: an assessment of 
population size, status, and trends; studies of distribu- 
tion and range; life history, natural history, and 
ecological studies; development and implementation of 
programs to educate fishermen and the general public 
on the vaquita and its plight and on the more general 
need for conservation of marine resources; socio- 
economic studies; and investigation of economic 
alternatives to gillnet fishing. The final plan is 
expected to be made available by the chairman of the 
technical committee early in 1993. 
The Marine Mammal Commission will help further 
actions outlined in the plan to preserve and protect the 
remaining vaquita population. 
Harbor Porpoise 
(Phocoena phocoena) 
The harbor porpoise occurs largely in coastal areas 
throughout the cold temperate and sub-arctic Northern 
Hemisphere, including Europe, Russia, the Far East, 
and the east and west coasts of North America. 
Animals have been observed as far south as northern 
West Africa. The species’ nearshore distribution 
makes it vulnerable to impacts from human activities, 
particularly coastal fisheries and environmental 
pollution. 
Substantial numbers of harbor porpoises are killed 
incidentally in U.S. fisheries. In 1991 the most recent 
year for which data are available, harbor porpoises 
were taken in the groundfish sink gillnet fishery in the 
