VICE's video: The Cartel s Cash Catch VICE Documentary

There's a race to save a dozen small cetaceans, the last in the world of their species. They're caught as bycatch in nets set to trap a fish with a huge demand in China. Can anything be done? It all begins in Mexico, in the Gulf of California, just 97 miles from the US, where the totoaba is endemic. The demand for its swim bladder is at the heart of the issue. Two key towns in this region, San Felipe and Santa Clara, rely almost entirely on fishing shrimp and local fish. Times are perpetually challenging but engaging in illicit totoaba fishing can yield a substantial paycheck. They became overfished in the 2010s when a catch like this could generate hundreds of thousands of dollars each month. Adding to the severity of the situation for this endangered fish, the nets used to catch this species, as well as those used for local shrimp, have inadvertently captured a small porpoise native to the Gulf of California, Mexico: the vaquita marina. This has pushed it to the brink of extinction. The latest survey in 2024 was only able to spot 6-8 vaquitas, from 10-13 last year. The US is exerting pressure on Mexico over the issue, and scientists, along with environmentalists and law enforcement in several countries, are working tirelessly to save the vaquita, halt totoaba trafficking and develop sustainable alternatives to harmful nets. Want to watch this in Spanish? Catch the documentary on our VICE en Español channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_BZHHiF_hY&t=2s Click here to subscribe to VICE: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE About VICE: The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE. Connect with VICE: Check out our full video catalog: http://bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com More videos from the VICE network: https://www.fb.com/vicevideo Click here to get the best of VICE daily: http://bit.ly/1SquZ6v Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vice Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vice Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vice?lang=en The VICE YouTube Network: VICE: https://www.youtube.com/VICE MUNCHIES: https://www.youtube.com/MUNCHIES VICE News: https://www.youtube.com/VICENews VICE TV: https://www.youtube.com/@VICE-TV/featured VICE Life: https://www.youtube.com/Broadly Noisey: https://www.youtube.com/Noisey Motherboard: https://www.youtube.com/MotherboardTV VICE Sports: https://www.youtube.com/NOC Waypoint: https://www.youtube.com/WaypointVICE