Mexican Government Fails to Protect Endangered Totoaba & Vaquita Porpoises - Faces US Sanctions

The Department of the Interior of the US has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed in 2020, which demands that it certify Mexico for not adequately protecting the critically endangered totoaba & vaquita porpoises.

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The Centre for Biological Diversity, the National Resources Defence Council, & the Animal Welfare Institute filed the lawsuit in the US Court of International Trade.

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The demand of the lawsuit is for the US government to certify Mexico under a US law called the Pelly Amendment, which would allow the administration of US President Joe Biden to embargo the import of wildlife products from Mexico, including shrimp & fish.

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Around USD 745 million (EUR 687 million) of seafood was imported by the US from Mexico in 2022.

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The Department of the Interior Of the US has agreed to determine by May 19 whether it will certify Mexico in violation of the Pelly Amendment, with a public announcement by June 3.

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The deliberation of the federal agency will depend on whether it believes Mexico’s action or inaction has resulted in undermining the effectiveness of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora (CITES).

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CITES introduced sanctions against Mexico in March for the country’s failure to submit an adequate plan to control totoaba fishing & trafficking, which threatens the vaquita.

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As the vaquita is on the brink of extinction, there are strong US sanctions. Will force Mexico to pull this little species back from the brink.

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Pursuant to a Pelly certification, additional US import restrictions could be broader, potentially banning all wildlife products from Mexico, not just CITES-protected wildlife.

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Vaquitas, highly imperiled, are found only in Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California.

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