Criminal networks drive world’s most endangered marine mammal toward extinction through illegal fish trade

The vaquita porpoise, the world’s most endangered marine mammal, is racing toward extinction due to a deadly black market trade operating in Mexico’s Upper Gulf of California. With fewer than 30 individuals believed to remain in the wild, this small porpoise has become collateral damage in the illegal trafficking of another endangered species—the totoaba fish.

The crisis centers on the totoaba’s swim bladder, a gas-filled organ that helps the fish control its buoyancy. In traditional Chinese medicine, these bladders are falsely believed to provide health benefits and anti-aging properties, making them extraordinarily valuable on the black market. A single totoaba swim bladder can fetch tens of thousands of dollars, earning it the nickname “aquatic cocaine” and creating powerful financial incentives for poachers to ignore fishing bans.

The tragedy for vaquitas lies in the fishing methods used to catch totoaba. Both species are similar in size and inhabit the same waters, so vaquitas become trapped and drown in the gillnets set for totoaba. An international investigation by Earth League International has revealed how sophisticated criminal networks orchestrate this trade, moving totoaba parts from Mexican waters through the United States to underground markets across Asia.

This transnational supply chain involves multiple layers of poachers, traffickers, and buyers, making it extremely difficult to disrupt. Despite conservation efforts and fishing restrictions, the illegal trade continues to operate, pushing both the vaquita porpoise and totoaba fish closer to complete extinction while enriching criminal organizations that exploit weaknesses in international wildlife protection systems.