Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California

• Fishing/collecting aquatic resources
• Illegal activities
• Serious concerns about the imminent extinction of an endemic porpoise species (vaquita) and over the conservation status of a marine fish (totoaba)
• Illegal fishing

On 9 February 2018, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report for the property. A joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission visited the property from 11 to 17 February 2018. Both reports are available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1182/documents. The State Party reports that important efforts have been undertaken to implement the recommendations of the 2017 Reactive Monitoring mission:

• On 30 June 2017, a decree was issued by the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources and the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food, which permanently bans the use of gillnets in the vaquita refuge, prohibits night fishing and enforces the control and monitoring of small vessels;
• Important resources are being mobilized to enforce the ban and curb illegal fishing. Through the Comprehensive Attention Programme of the Upper Gulf of California (COI), different law enforcement agencies cooperate, including the Navy, the Army, the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA), the newly established Environmental Gendarmerie, the National Fisheries Authority (CONAPESCA) and the National Commission on Natural Protected Areas (CONANP). Fourteen vessels, including two ocean patrol vessels as well as two helicopters, two aircraft and several smaller boats are permanently mobilized in the operation. The total costs of the operation since its start exceeds USD 27 million in operational costs and USD 16 million in investment costs;
• In addition, several NGO vessels are permanently retrieving illegal nets. Government law enforcement staff is now present on the NGO vessels;
• The Attorney General Office has established an office in San Felipe, allowing more efficient investigation and prosecution. The federal law against organized crime has been reformed and now includes wildlife trafficking;
• The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Institute (INAPESCA) continues its research into alternative fishing gear;
• In August 2017, Mexico organized a trilateral meeting in the framework of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) with representatives of China and the United States of America to discuss the illegal trafficking of totoaba swim bladder. The meeting agreed to establish a contact group and to carry out joint operations when required. A follow up meeting was held in January 2018. The three countries also submitted a joint report to the 69th session of the CITES Standing Committee (SC69) on the efforts to protect the totoaba. The SC69 requested the CITES Secretariat to commission a study on the current status of the totoaba and vaquita, and information on illegal trade and markets in totoaba;
• The Vaquita Conservation, Protection and Recovery programme (CPR) had the objective to establish a small captive population in order to avoid extinction of the species but had to be abandoned after one of the captured animals died. Based on the results of the acoustic detection undertaken during the CPR, the vaquita refuge area was increased. Other data collected are still being analyzed, but the report notes that the detections of both grown up and young animals were encouraging.

The important efforts to implement the recommendations of the 2017 mission should be welcomed. Although the State Party had only seven months to act on these recommendations, the 2018 mission concluded that significant progress was made on 3 of the 4 priority recommendations. Law enforcement procedures have been significantly strengthened by the enactment of the permanent gillnet ban, the allocation of greater resources to the upper Gulf and improvements to legal procedures associated with gathering data and investigating illegal activities. The COI programme has mobilized multiple law enforcement agencies and unprecedented financial and operational resources and incorporated the assistance of civil society. Net retrieval operations have significantly increased and progress has been made in streamlining and simplifying procedures for the enforcement of regulations. Efforts have been made, at the highest level, to address the issue of the international trade in totoaba with the most important transit and destination countries, the United States of America and China, both through bilateral channels and CITES.

However, the mission considered that progress made to introduce alternative fishing gear remains insufficient and that efforts to trial and integrate alternative fishing gear that does not endanger the vaquita and other non-target species must be expedited. Fishing communities must be fully engaged in this process and the expertise and experience of the Expert Committee on Fishing Technologies (ECOFT) should be the foundation of all future actions so that transition to sustainable and viable fisheries is swift and successful.

The outcome of the CPR has clearly established that removing vaquita to a temporary sanctuary is not a viable option and the only way to safeguard the species from extinction is the cessation of illegal fishing activities within its habitat. It is encouraging that so far only one net entanglement fatality has been recorded during 2018 but even with the increased at-sea surveillance, illegal totoaba nets continue to be recovered on a regular basis, demonstrating that illegal fishing activities still occur.

The mission concluded that it is too early to determine how effectively the efforts undertaken by the State Party to implement the 2017 recommendations have averted the risk of extinction of the vaquita and it is therefore recommended that the Committee postpone a decision on the possible inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger to its 43rd session in 2019, when more data from the 2018-2019 season when illegal totoaba fishing occurs are available and once the above mentioned CITES study has been completed.

In order to prevent the extinction of the vaquita and thus prevent iconic attributes of the OUV from becoming irreversibly lost, it is recommended that the Committee urge the State Party to address four additional key recommendations, made by the mission and summarized in the Draft Decision, to further strengthen surveillance and monitoring, speed up the introduction of viable alternative fishing gears, strengthen the legal status of the permanent gillnet ban and more effectively address the illegal trafficking of totoaba products.

The mission also considers that the results of the CITES study will be key in mapping trafficking routes and in identifying appropriate strategies to combat illegal trade in totoaba, the implementation of which will require a coordinated effort between the States Parties of Mexico, China and the United States of America.

In order to guarantee the long-term protection and maintenance of the OUV of the property, and further improve its conservation and strengthen its management, the mission further proposes long term recommendations on sustainable fisheries, the integration of local communities and the development of an integrated management framework.