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A line-transect survey for the critically endangered vaquita, Phocoena sinus, was carried out in October-November 2008, in the northern Gulf of California, Mexico. Areas with deeper water were sampled visually from a large research vessel, while shallow water areas were covered by a sailboat towing an acoustic array. Total vaquita abundance in 2008 was estimated to be 245 animals (CV = 73%, 95% CI 68-884). The 2008 estimate was 57% lower than the 1997 estimate, an average rate of decline of 7.6%/yr. Bayesian analyses found an 89% probability of decline in total population size during the 11 yr period, and a 100% probability of decline in the central part of the range. Acoustic detections were assumed to represent porpoises with an average group size of 1.9, the same as visual sightings. Based on simultaneous visual and acoustic data in a calibration area, the probability of detecting vaquitas acoustically on the trackline was estimated to be 0.41 (CV = 108%). The Refuge Area for the Protection of the Vaquita, where gill net fishing is currently banned, contained approximately 50% of the population. While animals move in and out of the Refuge Area, on average half of the population remains exposed to bycatch in artisanal gill nets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors reports that the vaquita (Gulf of California porpoise, Phocoena sinus), is in imminent danger of extinction by the use of gillnet fishing in El Golfo de Santa Clara and San Felipe, Mexico as of December 2007. They call for the use of economic incentives to the fishing communities as a way of halting the use of such nets, and the incidental death of the porpoises caused by their use. Using computer models, they found that the vaquita has two years before they reach a population level of no return.