In October 2021, Hong Kong customs seized US$154.3 million worth of contraband products from a vessel bound for mainland China

In Mexico, the green light for exporting farmed totoaba divides opinion

The following is an excerpt from an article published by China Dialogue Ocean:

A decision by CITES to permit international trade is seen by some as a chance for economic growth, but it could also fuel illegal activity that is driving extinction in the Gulf of California

In March 2022, Earth Ocean Farms became the first aquaculture company in Mexico to obtain permission to export the meat of the totoaba fish, following approval by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

Totoaba was critically endangered in the wild until 2021 when its status was improved to vulnerable. It has been cultivated in pens in Mexican waters for around 20 years. During the first decade, that was in an effort to succour the wild population. While in the last 10 years, farmers have been selling the fish domestically.

But the move to expand the market beyond Mexico to international consumers has prompted outrage from conservationists. While some people say it will drive economic growth, conservationists argue it will promote illegal trafficking.

Concerns, but no consensus

The totoaba, a large fish endemic to the Gulf of California, is highly coveted for its swim bladder, also known as “maw”. This gas-filled organ helps bony fish regulate their buoyancy and may be sold for as much as US$60,000. It is considered by some to be an aphrodisiac, or a cure for other ailments in traditional Chinese medicine.

The trade has fuelled fishing of wild totoaba, which is illegal, and driven another species, the vaquita porpoise, to the brink of extinction. These small porpoises must surface to breathe but regularly drown after being caught in the fine-meshed “gillnets” laid for totoaba. Such nets have been illegal since 2015, when the Mexican authorities prohibited their use in the Gulf of California, but the ban hasn’t been well enforced. It is estimated that there are currently no more than 10 vaquita left in the wild, making it among the most endangered species on Earth.

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The CITES decision “will open up a massive loophole that will be exploited by those who want to trade the swim bladder,” says Clare Perry, climate and ocean campaign leader for the Environmental Investigation Agency, an NGO. (continues...)

Author/Source: Andrés M. Estrada /China Dialogue Ocean | Read the full article by clicking the link here

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