Totoaba Bladders: The Cocaine of the Sea of Cortez

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: El Sol de Tijuana

      The PEP seized approximately 229 pieces of the marine species in a neighborhood of Mexicali;

                     a highly prized and expensive product in SouthEast Asia and particularly China.

May 5, 2018
By: Laura Elena Aguayo / Juan Galván and Dulce Maria Diaz / The Voice of the Border

Based on a investigation carried out by elements of the State Preventive Police (PEP) in Mexicali, the confiscation of approximately 100 kilos of totoaba bladders in the Misión del Ángel division was achieved and this number represents an historic seizure. One Kilo of dried Totoaba Bladder is worth $60,000 - $100,000 USD in China, therefore a tempting product to harvest and traffic to penniless fisherman and organized criminals alike.

Last Friday night, agents of the PEP, while carrying out an investigation and surveillance operation by  the aforementioned division, observed a green Mazda Protege vehicle circulating along General Santiago Vidaurri Street and Del Ángel Road ,  Mexicali BC, in a suspicious manner, which they approached and stopped for investigation.

When interviewing the driver, who identified himself as Francisco Eduardo "N", 25 years old, he was nervous, so they proceeded to carry out an inspection both on his person and inside the vehicle.

Therefore, the vehicle, the 25 year old man and the totoaba bladders were secured and placed before the disposition of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) who will be responsible for determining the legal situation.
In the revision, nothing illegal was found on his person, but when investigating inside the car they checked a cooler in the passenger seat, when the police opened it they found 29 bladders of totoaba fish,  in the back seat another cooler with 100 more bladders and in the trunk another 100, which gives a total of 229 and which yielded an approximate 100 kilos of totoaba bladders.
           

         Illegal Poaching of Totoaba and other over fishing and illegal fishing tecniques affect not only              the nearly extinct and endemic Vaquita porpoise , but sea lions, shark species and sea turtles.

Operation Miracle 1V VS. Illegal Fishing

For years, the marine protection organization Sea Shepherd has worked in defense of the near extinct Vaquita and the endangered Totoaba fish in the Sea of ​​Cortez, managing to implement four protection and surveillance campaigns in the designated polygon in the Upper Gulf of California area, in part with the help of Mexican federal authorities.

The unique endemic Vaquita Porpoise enmeshed in an illegal gil net in the Upper reaches of The Sea

To date, Operation Miracle IV is underway, in which Mexican authorities are working, while the John Paul Dejoria and Farley Mowat vessels patrol and protect the refuge of the Vaquita Porpoise.

To date, Sea Shepherd has removed 748 pieces of illegal fishing gear from the Sea of ​​Cortez since it began its effort to protect the vaquita in 2015, saving 2,926 marine animals in the process. However,  during this period more vaquita have been taken from the Sea.

                       Volunteers Locate Totoaba Fish Entangled in Illegal Gil Nets Near San Felipe
                     
Since 1975 the Totoaba has been protected in Mexico when it was included in the list of endangered species due to the mad pursuit of its swim bladder; but due to the resurgence of the black market demand of these bladders in Asia "The totoaba fishery has accelerated the decline of the vaquita from 7.5% per year to 18.5% per year".

It should be noted that during Operation Miracle III, Sea Shepherd withdrew 233 illegal fishing gear, 1,195 entangled dead animals - including sharks, dolphins, whales, turtles and sea lions - and released 795 live marine mammals. Five dead vaquitas were discovered and their deaths attributed to being trapped in gill nets illegally set by poachers. (pescaderos furvitos)

Official data:

Official reports of the National Fisheries Commission ( Comision Nacional de Pesca) indicate that with support from the Whale Museum extracted lot of "ghost nets " in the Polygon Vaquita Protection Area.

This concerns the extraction of 175 "ghost nets",  62 from January15 to March 3,2018; 54 gil nets specifically sized for Totoaba, 6 shrimping nets , one for Sierra Mackeral and other nets common for multi use.

Expand Polygon:

In response to the recommendations of the International Committee for the Conservation of the Vaquita, the Protected Polygon of the Vaquita Marina was extended to 1,841 square kilometers, that is, it grew 46% or 577.16 square kilometers, as published in the Official Redord of the Federation.

Monitor Totoaba Fishermen (Totoaberos):

More than 200 people have been placed at the disposal of the Federal Public Ministry and of those 20 are subject to process for the illegal fishing of totoaba, since the presence of the Secretariat of the Navy in the Sea of ​​Cortez area was reinforced.

Admiral Jorge Luis Ballado Ballado, commander of the Second Naval Region, last February reported that as the polygon expanded, surveillance has increased and there is more technology such as drones and special cameras with an infrared system to operate 24 hours a day. 

He added that an independent Marine Corps special group was created in the San Felipe area to intensify foot-to-land surveillance, since the fishing season is from March to May and that is when the fishermen  arrive to fish in the prohibited fishing areas.

Unofficial sources of the Federal Police report that the traffickers of "buches" or Totoaba Bladders have changed their way of operating.

The  traditional trafficking route was through Mexicali and Tijuana, the "merchandise" crossed into the United States and then to China, but now it is being shipped out via Sonora airports,  Ciudad Obregon or Hermosillo and then on to Mexico City where they board flights to South Korea and then finally move to Beijing and Hong Kong.

It should be added that this conservation effort has divided the fishing community in the northern "Sea" , both on the Baja California side and also in the fishing communities on the eastern side of Sonora but especially in San Felipe, BC.

There have been frequent and often volatile protests: Pro: protection for the vaquita and Anti: all the latest fishing regulations and restrictions; migrating as far as Mexicali and fishing villages south of San Felipe which have been largely abandoned and destroyed/looted and look like " Ghost " fishing villages themselves.

Several notorious "criminal elements" have been arrested on a variety of charges, some stick and some do not, depending on the person and their connections and /or resources.

One outstanding case is that of "Sunshine" Rodriguez Pena, a supposed advocate for the Fishermen and opponent of the conservation restrictions, although he has been arrested and called everything from a "Political Prisoner" to a top regional Narco boss.

"Sunshine" was arrested both for outstanding charges in BC and with drugs (meth), along with his wife in BCS and moved to Mexico City on one occasion to related face charges.

Recently two men from China were arrested with more than 800 totoaba bladders/ "buches" already dried and packed. Both embarked on their journey's goal in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora.

"Sunshine" Rodriguez Pena : Demanding a Renunciation of the Conservation Zone dedicated to the preservation of the last remaining 30 endemic Vaquita Porpoises in " The Sea" on behalf of local fishermen and Organized Crime with EPN and Francisco "Kiko" Vega, Governor of Baja California.

Yaqui Note: I personally abhor the use of the name "The Sea of Cortez" and refer to The Sea as "El Golfo de California " or my favorite: The Vermillion Sea.