$16-million effort to save porpoises
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From Times Wire Reports
Mexico plans to invest $16 million to save a highly endangered species of porpoise in the upper Gulf of California, asking reluctant fishermen to adopt safer methods or give up their trade entirely.
Scientists say the population of the vaquita marina -- Spanish for “little sea cow” -- has dwindled to 150 or fewer.
Plans include paying fishermen to avoid the porpoise’s habitat, give up drag nets that drown dozens of the animals each year or give up fishing, Environment Secretary Juan Rafael Elvira said in Ensenada.
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