IWC calls for net bans to prevent extinctions Mexico’s vaquita
porpoise and the Maui’s dolphin of New Zealand were a focus of
discussions today between countries gathered in Panama City for
the commission’s annual meeting. Governments urged Mexico and
New Zealand to take all possible measures immediately to save
the animals from extinction. “It’s time for diplomatic niceties
and step-wise strategies to take a back seat to immediate,
concrete action with no compromise,” said Michael Stachowitsch,
delegate of Austria to the IWC. There are believed to be fewer
than 200 vaquitas left, and only 55 remaining Maui’s dolphins
over a year old. Both animals are severely threatened by
accidental bycatch in gillnet fisheries. A total ban on the use
of gillnets in the entire ranges of both populations is needed
to secure their survival, according to the IWC Scientific
Committee’s report. Scientists say that unless immediate action
is taken the vaquita population could soon be extinct. The only
known loss of a mammal speci