Fact Finding to Begin on Mexican Illegal Fishing Enforcement
Almost three years after environmental groups asked the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to ask the tri-national Commission on Environmental Cooperation to establish a formal factual record of Mexico's failure to enforce its ban on gillnets in the Upper Gulf of California in Mexico (see 2108130052), that commission will begin such a fact-finding mission.
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It will examine how well Mexico is enforcing its ban on gillnets and its totoaba fishing ban. The gillnets are used to catch totoaba, whose bladders are an illicit trade item, or to catch shrimp, but end up also entangling a nearly extinct porpoise, the vaquita.
The U.S. began formal consultations over the issue in February 2022 under the USMCA environmental chapter. (see 2202100036).
The factual record, the groups hope, could underpin a USMCA dispute.