Mexico nabs 6 fishing boats in endangered porpoise habitat

MEXICO CITY – Mexican authorities have used drones to detect and catch six vessels fishing within an area where gill nets are banned to protect the endangered vaquita porpoise.

Mexico’s Environment Department said Monday the six vessels were caught between Saturday and Monday.

Two of the larger vessels were ordered taken to a nearby port for possible impoundment.

Gill nets have been banned in much of the upper Gulf of California to protect the vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise.

Only around 60 vaquitas remain in the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, the only place in the world they live.

The vaquitas are threatened by gillnet fishing for the totoaba fish, another endangered species in the area that is hunted for its swim bladder, which is considered a delicacy in China.