World's Rarest Porpoise Battles Extinction As Mexico Shrinks Protected Area

By Ana Isabel Martinez and Sarah Morland

MEXICO CITY, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Mexico’s president said on Thursday a drastic reduction in the protected area for the near-extinct vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise, will help fishing communities.

Critics say this week’s reduction in the area where fishermen cannot use gillnets, long walls of nylon mesh, by 86% to 1,562 square kilometers (603 square miles), about the size of Greater London, threatens the survival of the species.

The prior agreement had protected an area similar to the size of the US state of Connecticut.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said the new scope aimed