Carlos Correa has never seen the vaquita, the small, snub-nosed porpoise endemic to the northern reaches of Mexico’s Gulf of California and now on the verge of extinction. Like the rest of the fishermen who work the waters where the vaquita swims, however, he fears its fate will affect his own. “It’s like the Loch Ness monster,” says Correa at his home in this village of just a few streets wedged between a vast desert and a narrow sea. Correa lays out two nets on the patio of his house to help explain why, in his view, efforts to save Mexico’s emblematic marine mammal could bankrupt him. He points to a long, fine gill net—cheap and effective in catching shrimp but a danger... [Log in to read more]