Operation Milagro IV concludes: Most successful vaquita defence campaign
by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society 27 Dec 2018 15:37 UTC
Operation Milagro: Most successful vaquita defense campaign © Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
In June 2018, Sea Shepherd officially concluded Operation Milagro IV, its campaign to fight the looming extinction of the vaquita porpoise, the most endangered marine mammal in the world.
During Milagro IV, Sea Shepherd once again joined forces with the Mexican Navy to patrol for poachers, remove illegal fishing gear, and release trapped wildlife.
This year was our most successful ever, with our crew removing more nets this campaign than all previous Milagro campaigns combined. We removed a total of 385 pieces of illegal fishing gear, saving over 800 entangled animals. Since we began Operation Milagro in 2015, we have retrieved over 800 nets and saved the lives of 3,000 marine wildlife. This amount of nets taken also means a loss of almost $1 million to the poachers and cartels who are illegally fishing in the Sea of Cortez.