Sea Shepherd is on the front lines of vaquita porpoise conservation, working in the Upper Gulf of California, alongside the Mexican Government to protect this critically endangered species from extinction. While much of Sea Shepherd’s work happens on the water, it also extends to international policy forums—because real change requires action at every level.
This week, at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, Sea Shepherd’s Director of International Affairs, Nina Young, addressed the nations involved in the convention. Young shared the success of Sea Shepherd’s partnership with Mexico, highlighting a 90% reduction in illegal fishing within the Zero Tolerance Area, a key habitat for the vaquita.
Young also outlined Sea Shepherd’s plan to expand acoustic and visual monitoring to locate vaquitas and further protect their remaining habitat. Finally, she called on delegates to support efforts to keep vaquita waters free from illegal fishing and deadly gillnets.
CITES agreed to continue working with Mexico to ensure progress toward ending illegal fishing in vaquita habitat. This kind of international backing is crucial to giving the vaquita a fighting chance at survival.
Illegal Nets Put A Species On The Brink
In January 2025 alone, Sea Shepherd Crews recovered over 1000 meters of net in a single day.
Sea Shepherd has spent over a decade in the Gulf of California protecting the vaquita and, in the process, developed a new model for combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. By working alongside the Mexican government, we’ve created an approach that combines direct enforcement, constant on-the-water presence, and advanced monitoring technology to drive poachers out of critical habitats. This model is now shaping how governments and NGOs can work together to take meaningful action against IUU fishing worldwide, and we are working to apply it to other threatened areas where illegal fishing is pushing marine species toward extinction.
SUPPORT SEA SHEPHERD
Sea Shepherd is 100% donor-funded, with no office space and a team operating remotely and from our ships on the water. We work to maximize every donation in the fight against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and to defend marine life worldwide.
