La Paz, Mexico-based aquaculture firm Santomar has marked a conservation milestone: 10 years of its "Totoabas a la Mar” program, which has released over 270,000 juvenile totoabas into the Gulf of California.
The program, which the company started in 2015, seeks to help the totoaba population recover in the Gulf after decades of overfishing left the endemic species threatened with extinction.
It also aims to improve consumer perceptions of the fish species, which has long been treated solely as a commodity on the international market, where its swim bladder, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine, can fetch huge prices.
Though Mexico has increased efforts to protect totoaba in recent years, illegal fishing remains a threat to the animal and is also a threat to the critically endangered vaquita, a porpoise that often gets tangled in the gillnets used to catch totoaba.
"The 10th anniversary is a moment of profound reflection and recognition for Santomar," Santomar Executive Director Pablo Konietzko said. “We have witnessed the positive impact of our efforts on the health of the Gulf of California and on the awareness of local communities. We are more committed than ever to continuing to work on restoring the totoaba and promoting regenerative aquaculture practices that protect and respect the marine ecosystem.”
Santomar, which was formerly known as Earth Ocean Farms, has bred totoaba in La Paz for over 20 years. Because totoaba is listed as an “Appendix I” species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which bans all exportation of the species except under exceptional circumstances, the company can only sell totoaba in Mexico.
Though the company has petitioned CITES for permission to export its product in the past, it has so far been unsuccessful. Currently, the company sells its totoaba exclusively at Costco and WildFork locations.
