Governments and interest groups continue to spar over IUU fishing and endangered species.
The last of the world’s smallest porpoises, Chinese demand for “cocaine of the sea,” endangered fish bladders and red snapper poaching are all factors in an international political storm over the commercial fisheries of Baja California Sur of Mexico.
A flurry of diplomatic overtures and the dangling threat of U.S. trade restrictions on Mexican fish imports looms as 2024 emerges as something of a crossroads year. A larger-than-normal dead-zone forecast probably isn’t helping the situation.
Worsening U.S.-Mexico Fisheries Relations
As Fishermen’s News has reported in the past, Baja California waters have been affected by unsustainable fishing practices and criminal enterprises for years. Previous reporting about the arrests of Mexican and Chinese nationals associated with the now-defunct (according to the Mexican Navy) Cartel of the Sea and Totoaba Cartel claim the swim bladders of the rare totoaba fish are valued between $20,000 and $80,000 per kilogram on the black market.
The high market price of the large drum fish’s bladder has earned the illicit seafood product the moniker “cocaine of the sea.”
These factors and others have exacerbated relations with the U.S. over time, coming to a head with NOAA’s 2023 Report to Congress on Improving International Fisheries Management. The report awarded Mexico a negative certification on the front of illegal, underreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Bottom line, the issue of IUU fishing in Mexico is getting worse according to this biennial global analysis. Another point of contention: poaching of U.S. regulated finfish stocks, including red snapper, by Mexican fishermen.
Additionally, Mexico was given a negative certification for its inability to reduce sea turtle bycatch with gillnets in Baja California Sur.
As the extent of these issues was made official, imposing a U.S. embargo on Mexican fish imports was recommended by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) secretariat in March 2023.
The recommendation was withdrawn after the government of Mexico promptly submitted a compliance action plan, seen by many as a diplomatic demonstration of intent to improve the situation.
But the showdown escalated to the point where President Biden issued a statement to clarify the administration’s position. The White House highlighted familiar concerns over totoaba fishing, which is illegal under Mexican law, and the critically endangered vaquita porpoise.
Notably, the statement blamed China for these activities.
“The illegal harvest and international trade in totoaba has continued in response to the ongoing demand in the People’s Republic of China (PRC),” the statement said. “With the price of a single totoaba swim bladder estimated at thousands of dollars, the incentive for illegal harvest and trade is high.”
“Many of these illegally harvested swim bladders are trafficked from Mexico through the United States to the PRC,” the statement continued. “As the illegal harvest of totoaba has continued, the vaquita population has plummeted. Recent estimates suggest there are fewer than 15 individual vaquitas remaining in the wild.”
“Despite these low numbers, scientists believe that the vaquita can survive and recover if the threats to its survival are reduced or eliminated,” the statement said.
Despite these critiques, the Biden statement also gave the Mexican government credit for entering a partnership with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to successfully remove gillnets from a “zero-tolerance area” in the Gulf of Mexico. The area now is free of gillnets according to Sea Shepherd, with the aim to minimize vaquita entanglements.
Ultimately, the statement solidified the administration’s desire to not pursue an embargo but made it clear that “potential trade restrictions” are on the table if the situation does not improve within a year.
“I am not directing the Secretary of the Treasury to impose trade measures on Mexican products for the activities that led to the certification by the Secretary of the Interior at this time,” Biden said in the July 2023 letter, which was addressed to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate.
“However, to ensure that this issue continues to receive the highest level of attention, the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of State, and the United States Trade Representative, and other agencies as appropriate, will monitor Mexico’s enforcement actions and progress and provide me with a report not later than (one) year from the date of this notification on whether these actions have reduced the illegal harvest and trafficking of totoaba and enhanced the conservation of vaquita,” Biden said in the letter. “The report will be used as the basis for assessing whether additional steps, including potential trade restrictions, will be necessary.”
Current Status: Shaky, But Hopeful
As of late June, the aforementioned report for the president has yet to be released to the public. U.S.-Mexico fishery relations remain normal, if possibly tense, until new data and recommendations are presented.
In January, the Brookings Institute think tank published an analysis that posited 2024 could be a turning point for the better. A “nexus of illicit activity” is cited as a target for U.S. law enforcement to help curb the region’s IUU fishing problem. Using domestic and international law to crack down on forced labor and human trafficking, human rights abuses and even cartel fentanyl dealing could deal blows to forces exacerbating the fisheries problems.
China’s importance in the drama is also emphasized, but a ray of hope was the country’s acceptance of the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies in 2023. The agreement is supposed to protect against subsidies to IUU fishing activities.
Additionally, the Chinese government claims to have levied over $137 million in fines for illegal fishing.
“Taken in context with statements from (China’s) President Xi Jinping, these actions align with broader Chinese environmental and economic efforts, and likely represent China seeking a greater leadership role in global maritime policy—from which it could shape rules in its interest,” according to the Brookings Institute. “That said, it remains to be seen if these changes are merely symbolic or reflect a genuine effort to counter IUU fishing.”
Can Baja fisheries catch a break? Time will tell if the actions of Mexico, the U.S. and China avert an economic knife fight —or make it inevitable.
The promise of a healthy, profitable gulf hangs in the balance.
Norris Comer is a Seattle-based writer and author. His debut memoir, Salmon in the Seine: Alaskan Memories of Life, Death, & Everything In-Between is now available wherever books are sold. You can find him on Substack, Instagram and at norriscomer.com. He can be reached via email at norriscomer@substack.com.