The demand for dried totoaba swim bladders is threatening not just the totoaba but also the vaquita.
Because the swim bladders of the totoaba are highly sought in Hong Kong and southern mainland China, there has been a resurgence of illegal fishery.
Dubbed aquatic cocaine due to the high prices it fetches, the demand for dried totoaba swim bladders is threatening not just the totoaba but also the vaquita, which is accidentally caught and drowned in the illegal nets set for totoaba.
• Image | © Noticias MVS, Some Rights Reserved (CC)
• Sources | (Becker, 2017; CIRVA, May 2016; EIA, 2016; Johnston, 2017)
