Perreault Magazine - 64 -
There are more poachers in this refuge than Vaquitas.
They are not after the Vaquita. They are hunting another endangered and protected species, the Totoaba, a fish approximately the same size as the Vaquita and prized in China for its swim bladder that can sell for up to $20,000 a kilo in Chinese markets.
Therefore each night the poachers drop submerged gill nets and longlines into the refuge because the penalties are so small and the pay-off is so great.
In early 2015 Sea Shepherd approached the Mexican government with an offer to patrol the Vaquita Refuge. We sent our 92-foot sailing Ketch the Martin Sheen to the Sea of Cortez in March of last year. It was intimidating from the beginning. Upon arrival some of the poachers aggressively surrounded the Martin Sheen with threats and insults, however the volunteers, under the command of Captain Oona Layolle, were undeterred.
Captain Layolle is half French and half Colombian and speaks fluent Spanish, French and English. She informed the poachers that she was there to defend the Vaquita. The poachers taunted her saying she had no authority to stop them.
©Carolina A Castro: 6ft long Totoaba