Getting your player ready...
ENSENADA, Mexico — Mexico said Wednesday it will invest $16 million to save a highly endangered species of porpoise in the upper Gulf of California, asking reluctant fishermen to adopt safer methods or give up their trade entirely.
Scientists say the population of the vaquita marina — Spanish for “little sea cow” — has dwindled to 150 or fewer from more than 500 a decade ago.
Plans include paying fishermen to avoid the porpoise’s habitat or give up drag nets that drown dozens of the shy, dolphinlike animals each year. Some will even be paid to stop fishing forever.
Also known as the Gulf of California porpoise, the elusive vaquita was only discovered in 1958.
