Tag Archives: WWF

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March 30, 2014

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T-shirts and more

Hurry up! There are only a few hours left to buy an awesome Save the Whales/VIVA Vaquita t-shirt with the profits going to the Vaquita!

https://www.booster.com/vivavaquita

For the entire month of April, VIVA Vaquita will be the recipient of Mahalo Mondays at Hula’s Island Grill and Tiki Room in Monterey, California, so please eat and/or drink there on Mondays in April. 10% of Hula’s sales from 4:00 pm until closing on Mondays will go to VIVA Vaquita this April!

TakePart and WWF have teamed up to create a March Madness-like bracket for endangered animals! Please vote on the matchups and TakePart will donate up to $2,500 to WWF! The World Wildlife Fund is one of the biggest Vaquita supporters, so it really is important that you vote once a day until April 9!

http://www.takepart.com/animalbracket

Also, my book will soon be for sale in the Hau’ula Gift Shop on the Windward side of Oahu, Hawaii, in the Ching Jong Leong store building in Punaluu. The gift shop is run by Fawwaz Jubran, and is mentioned in this article: http://www.hawaiibusiness.com/Hawaii-Business/January-2008/Roadside-Attraction/.

If you are in the area, please join the Muskwa Club at their Vaquita table during the Point Vicente Interpretive Center’s ‘Whale of a Day’ on April 5 from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm! The event promises to be informative, exciting, and simply a whale of a time. 😉

Finally, thanks to everyone who participated in the Post-a-day Challenge. I hope that many people learned about the Vaquita this month, but let’s not stop! Keep sharing the Vaquita love!

Thanks

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December 22, 2013

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Cooking to save the Vaquita: Part 2

Part 1: https://vlogvaquita.com/2013/10/26/cooking-to-save-the-vaquita/

I strongly believe that the best way to help the Vaquita is to promote sustainable seafood (and promote the Vaquita as you are doing it). As Barbara Taylor said in this article, “Fishermen are more likely to convert to Vaquita-friendly fishing gear if there is market incentive to do so.”

What is sustainable fishing in terms of the Vaquita? I think of it in 3 levels; Worst: Gillnet-caught from Vaquita’s range, Good: Anything else, and Best: Vaquita-friendly trawl from the Vaquita’s range. The reason this is the best is because not only are you not supporting gillnets, you are supporting their ‘rival,’ giving them “market incentive to convert to Vaquita-friendly fishing gear.” Of course, you generally don’t just find Vaquita-friendly shrimp in the grocery store, except for maybe very close to the Vaquita’s range, and even if you do, how do you know it is actually Vaquita-safe? So with this in mind, how are you supposed to support Vaquita-friendly shrimp if you can’t find any? The answer is shrimp festivals:

“WWF Mexico, with funds from the US Marine Mammal Commission and several private foundations are planning a series of events to promote Vaquita-safe seafood. The hope is that this will do for Vaquita what ‘dolphin-safe’ labeling on cans of tuna did for millions of dolphins in the eastern Pacific. These events will feature top chefs serving Vaquita-safe shrimp alongside Vaquita wine. The idea is to connect the fishermen who are sustainably harvesting seafood with outlets that cater to conscientious consumers, and rewarding those fishermen with a bit higher price for their value-added product. The events will need planning, labor, and folks to enjoy the food.”

— Barbara Taylor

These events are incredibly important ways to help the Vaquita, and are completely accessible to the general public. The amazing group San Felipe Pescados y Mariscos recently had one of these events in Mexico. This group is doing exactly what needs to be done for the Vaquita: monitor and promote sustainable seafood from the Upper Gulf of California, including Vaquita-friendly labeling. If you can, please attend these kinds of events, show the fishermen that we do appreciate their efforts to save the Vaquita, and enjoy some of the best shrimp there is.

But what if you have my problem: location? There are still ways to support sustainable fishing without visiting a Vaquita-friendly shrimp festival near the Vaquita. The best is to make your own Vaquita-friendly seafood dish (remember my list above; if it says wild-caught in Mexico, don’t risk it. Though it could be Vaquita-safe, there is a higher chance it was gillnet-caught). Create your own recipe, or pick any of the endless dishes online or in cookbooks. Use Seafood Watch (or their great app) as your guide to make the right choices for your meal’s ingredients. Once you finish making your delicious dish, please send some pictures of it to me at gl.tamarin123@gmail.com so I can spread it around the Vaquita community! Please, share this with your friends so we can make this a really big movement!

Here is my holiday Shrimp Scampi with MSC-certified sustainable shrimp. It tasted beyond amazing!

Shrimp Scampi

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December 15, 2013

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WWF’s successes of 2013

As the year draws to a close, WWF takes a look back on the wonderful year of 2013 in their “15 WWF Success Stories of 2013.” Of course, the biggest Vaquita news in recent memory took place this June in the form of the Official Norm law, a new regulation that guarantees that all shrimp gillnets will be phased into Vaquita-safe trawls within the next 3 years! The Vaquita is featured at number 6 on the list because it was WWF’s petition (which garnered over 38,000 signatures from 127 countries) that caused the law in the first place. We cannot give enough thanks to WWF and everyone else that has helped the Vaquita so far in its eventful, 55-year history with us (the Vaquita was discovered in 1958). Let’s have a toast to a great 2014 for the Vaquita!

My sister and I came up with a fun holiday activity to find out your Vaquita name! For example, my name is Aidan and I was born in March, so my Vaquita name would be, “Vita Marina.” Have fun and please share!

What's your Vaquita name?

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November 22, 2013

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Vaquita model

I’ve had the idea of a Vaquita app for a while now. It would be a spectacular way to get the word out, not to mention the financial benefit for the Vaquita. WWF is a great example of conservation through apps, with Rhino Raid and WWF Together. My app would be something along the lines of you playing as a Vaquita who has to dodge gillnets to get to a goal, such as its family or a school of fish. Between levels, there would be little blurbs of information on the Vaquita, such as why it is endangered and how you can help, as well as a button on the home page to directly donate. The hardest part of creating the app would be the animation of the Vaquita. It could be a cartoon Vaquita, but I would prefer it to be quite realistic. I have been browsing through deviantART a lot in the last few days, and was inspired by all of the realistic animal models, some even moving with muscles and skeletons! I did a little research on 3D software, and discovered the free program Blender. I am starting to figure out how to use its endless features, and I created a basic Vaquita model. My hopes are to learn a lot more about animation and modeling, and eventually try to make the app. Below is my Vaquita which I will be using as the basis for the app’s animations. If you are or know anyone that you think can help with this project, please let me know at gl.tamarin123@gmail.com.

Wireframe Vaquita

Solid Vaquita

Solid Front Vaquita

Vaquita Model

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November 9, 2013

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American Cetacean Society

The American Cetacean Society is one of the leaders in Vaquita conservation. Founded in 1967 and comprised of 7 chapters and a Student Coalition, they are the world’s first organization dedicated to saving whales. Here are the links to the chapters:

Los Angeles
Monterey Bay
Orange County
Puget Sound
San Diego
San Francisco Bay
Oregon
Student Coalition

The Monterey Bay Chapter was one of the 3 founding members of ¡Viva Vaquita!, and the Los Angeles Chapter has been an extremely helpful ally to the Muskwa Club. The American Cetacean Society has two publications, the quarterly newsletter, Spyhopper, and the biannual, theme-specific Whalewatcher. In 2010 they published a Whalewatcher about porpoises, especially the Vaquita. The two most recent Spyhoppers also featured amazing articles about the Vaquita:

Viva Vaquita by Ayla Glim, Pages 6-8: http://acsonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SpyhopperQtr2-2013-FINAL_2.pdf

Vaquita, Net Gains and Net Losses by Barbara Taylor, Pages 1-5: http://acsonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Spyhopper-Nov.-2013.pdf

The November issue shocked me with these few paragraphs!

“For the first time since I’ve been working with Vaquita there are some concrete steps that people from outside Mexico can do (or will be able to soon), and here are three things you can do to help:

1. Support Vaquita-safe seafood products
Fishermen are more likely to convert to Vaquita-friendly fishing gear if there is market incentive to do so. WWF Mexico (http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/mexico/?208988/Mexico-approves-measure-to-save-worlds-rarestmarine-mammal) with funds from the US Marine Mammal Commission and several private foundations are planning a series of events to promote Vaquita-safe seafood. The hope is that this will do for Vaquita what ‘dolphin-safe’ labeling on cans of tuna did for millions of dolphins in the eastern Pacific. These events will feature top chefs serving Vaquita-safe shrimp alongside Vaquita wine. The idea is to connect the fishermen who are sustainably harvesting seafood with outlets that cater to conscientious consumers, and rewarding those fishermen with a bit higher price for their value-added product. The events will need planning, labor, and folks to enjoy the food.

2. Establish and support grassroots education and fund-raising campaigns
There is a need for educating the public about Vaquita. Last year saw the first “Save the Vaquita Day” initiated by a grassroots effort by elementary, middle and high school students of the Muskwa Club founded in Long Beach, California https://sites.google.com/site/muskwaclub/ with the support from several ACS chapters. The Muskwa Club even made a nice video, which can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj3T724txo4. This tri-coastal campaign reached thousands of people through Vaquita events and we can hope that this effort grows. These events and future plans can be seen on the website above and in the ACSLA Chapter report. The group ¡Viva Vaquita! (http://www.vivavaquita.org/) also continues to attend events and do programs in schools to raise awareness, and has just distributed educational brochures and coloring books to schools near the fishing port of San Felipe, Mexico. A kindergarten class at Frances Parker School in San Diego adopted Vaquita as their special project and raised funds. The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/), can accept funds by sending checks to Frances Gulland at their address with a note that the funds are for saving Vaquita. A few times a year, TMMC will transfer those funds to support WWF-Mexico projects aimed at training shrimp fishermen in the northern Gulf how to use alternative gear. Vaquita.tv continues to be an excellent source of on-line information and a great place to send people who want to learn more about Vaquita and the people’s needs in the northern Gulf.

3. Stay informed; stay involved
The other important role for cetacean fans is to be avid (even pesky!) consumers and purveyors of Vaquita information. Both the IUCN and the Society for Marine Mammalogy have repeatedly written letters to the Mexican government – but letters from other concerned citizens and organizations are needed to keep this issue on the front burner in Mexico. Vaquita needs an informed fan base to keep its status in the spotlight, to make clear that there is international interest in fate of this hapless porpoise, and that the eyes of the world are on Mexico over this issue. An inspirational example of citizen involvement is Aidan Bodeo-Lomicky, a 13-year old boy from Pennsylvania who has just written a book and maintains a blog https://vlogvaquita.com/ on Vaquita conservation!”

The Muskwa Club and I are very excited and grateful to see these new progressions (and the shout outs!), as well as all of the work the ACS has done in its legendary history. Please consider donating to them: http://acsonline.org/support-acs/donate-online/, as well as the ACSLA’s Vaquita switch-out fund by sending a check to P.O. Box 1208, San Pedro, CA 90733-1208. It is very important that you write “Vaquita” on the memo line for it to go to the switch-out.

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September 10, 2013

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Let’s do this!

As I am sure you know by now if you have read some of my previous posts, Mexico made a new law (called the Official Norm) that requires all shrimp gillnets to be switched out with Vaquita-safe trawls within the next 3 years. This is obviously enormous news, so even some of the major groups wrote articles about it, among them the WWF, the organization whose petition caused the law to be created in the first place.

However, few to no articles talk about what happens next.

This law is only affecting shrimp gillnets, because they are the only ones who have a Vaquita-safe substitute so far. Finfishing gillnets pose just as big, if not bigger, of a threat to the Vaquita, so they obviously need to be replaced as well. Currently, there are Vaquita-safe finfishing trawls being developed and tested, so hopefully they prove effective and can be implemented in the Gulf as well within the next couple of years, before it is too late.

The other part of the puzzle with this law is the cooperation of the fishermen and the commitment of the government. We are all hoping that the government really does follow through with this plan and succeeds, and from what I can tell, they mean business with this law. They really do want to save the Vaquita, and I believe they will as long as one factor falls into place: the fishermen.

In the end, it is all up to the fishermen. No matter how strict the government gets, the fishermen will be able to slip through their grasp and fish illegally. That is, if the fishermen would rather risk it all just to fish with gillnets. The law plans to train each fishermen on how to use the trawls and compensate them, meaning there is no real loss for the fishermen that participate in this mandatory law. The trawls are a lot more expensive than gillnets, so the government is going to need to use a lot of their tax dollars to make it happen. If you are a Gulf fishermen, please do the right thing and follow the law. Participate in the Official Norm, and tell every other fishermen to do the same. If you live in Mexico, know that every item you buy with tax could be helping save one of your national icons.

You. Yes, you sitting there reading this post. I want you to help this law succeed too. First off, DO NOT BUY FISH OR SHRIMP FROM THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA CAUGHT WITH GILLNETS! If there is no business, there will be no reason to fish. The next thing to do is sign my new and improved petition to the Mexican president, SEMARNAT, and PROFEPA, which asks them to do the things I wrote about in this post:

http://www.change.org/petitions/save-the-elusive-vaquita

Thank you so much for your help! If you would like to learn everything you can about the Vaquita while also donating to the species, please buy the first ever Vaquita book, written by me, here: https://www.createspace.com/4268018.

Together, we can save the Vaquita. Let’s do this!

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July 16, 2013

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Map and QR code

Here is an awesome article by WWF about the petition and resulting law that requires all gillnets to be switched out within the next 3 years. I cannot help but hold WWF mainly responsible for this amazing new breakthrough, considering 38,000 people from 127 countries signed their petition to the Mexican President, and that they helped create and test the nets that are now replacing gillnets. An amazing touch is that the article has a really neat map showing how many people from all around the world signed the petition with cool Vaquita graphics, courtesy of MapHook!

http://worldwildlife.org/stories/helping-the-world-s-smallest-porpoise

Also, below is a link to a QR Code to V-log. If you don’t know, a QR Code is a code that you can scan with your phone if you have one of the many QR scanner apps that automatically sends you to the site or product that the code is linked to. This is just another easy way to share or open my blog on your mobile phone. So please, share this post (click on the title of the post and then scroll down and use the sharing buttons, if you are on V-log) and scan the image with your phone. Also, I now have a Google Plus+ account, so if you guys would like to add me to your circles to get some new Vaquita updates, search Aidan Bodeo-Lomicky.

https://goldenliontamarin.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/qrcode.png

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June 21, 2013

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WWF newsletter

Great news! Not only does the Official Norm help the Vaquita by what the regulation actually says, but also by the publicity the Vaquita is getting from it. This was proven this morning when the first story in WWF’s monthly newsletter was about the Vaquita! If you didn’t get it, here’s what it said:

“World’s Smallest Porpoise Gets a Helping Hand

Found only in a small area of the upper Gulf of California, Mexico, Vaquitas probably number fewer than 200. This little porpoise—the world’s smallest—often becomes entangled and drowns in drift gillnets used by fishermen to catch fish and shrimp. WWF has been working for many years to address the threat of bycatch to the Vaquita, and in February over 38,000 people signed our petition for a gillnet ban in the porpoise’s habitat. This month the Mexican government took a major step in protecting this critically endangered species.

Find out how the government is helping >> http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=i9Ccsfa6mHtShsdgXHYB4g

Share:

On Facebook – http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=O7cYS_tXH_tIRYP_37rueQ

On Twitter – http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=NboT5STNa4FLl02F6PkEiQ

More About the Vaquita and Its Habitat: – A rare and elusive porpoise http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=KWnlwOIOE7qrHhwIE4Fx7g

– Working to eliminate bycatch http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=B8fR_5cl2Ytv_yJu6T-ouA

– About the Gulf of California http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=i9dZaa8zog3ZsfIBFTMPHQ“

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June 17, 2013

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Press release

Here is the WWF press release about the Official Norm that leading Vaquita scientist Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho sent me last night. It includes a great graphic of the Vaquita-safe trawl that will be put into use over the next 3 years. The leading experts and everyone else involved with the Vaquita are extremely excited and relieved by this new regulation, but our work is not done.

Vaquita – WWF-Mexico Press release 6 June 2013