Mexico’s Proposed New Regulations May Doom the Vaquita Porpoise to Extinction

February 5, 2026

Mexicali, Mexico—Mexico is on the brink of publishing new rules that will significantly weaken protections for the vaquita porpoise—the world’s most endangered cetacean—potentially leading to the extinction of the species. The Intergovernmental Group on Sustainability in the Upper Gulf of California, a multi-agency organization created to oversee implementation of measures to protect the vaquita, held a pivotal meeting today, proposing new regulations that could eviscerate established protections.  

During this meeting, the Mexican government announced new proposed regulatory measures on the use of gillnets: the principal threat to vaquita. The porpoises—only seven to ten of whom may remain, based on observations made during a 2025 survey—easily become entangled and drown in gillnets, which are used illegally to catch totoaba (a large fish), shrimp, and other animals in the Upper Gulf of California.

The new measures would amend Mexican regulations published in September 2020 which, if fully implemented and enforced, were generally considered the best chance for saving the vaquita from extinction. However, the country has never comprehensively enforced those 2020 regulations, and is now considering changes that include reducing the size of the area where gillnets are prohibited by 85 percent, allowing the use of gillnets in known vaquita habitat, and permitting fishing at night.  

“The new measures proposed today represent Mexico’s white flag of surrender to the cartels and fishers who have, for decades, overseen or participated in illegal fishing of totoaba and other species, nearly causing the extinction of the vaquita,” said DJ Schubert, senior wildlife biologist with the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI). “Mexico’s failure to enforce existing regulations—and now, its attempt to roll them back—is sentencing this beloved porpoise to extinction.”

AWI has long fought—alongside other animal welfare and conservation organizations—for Mexico to crack down on illegal gillnet use and take the protection of the vaquita seriously. In the face of today’s challenging developments, the organization urges the Mexican government to reconsider this potentially disastrous proposal.