MEXICO CITY: Mexican poachers are using go-fast boats, leading authorities trying to protect an endangered porpoise on 50-mile chases and parking pickup trucks on beaches to load boats and escape quickly.
Mexico’s environment department revealed some of the poachers’ risky tactics Thursday, describing a chase earlier this week.
Authorities detected the boat apparently fishing for Totoaba in an area reserved to protect the vaquita marina porpoise.
However, the crew escaped after leading officials on a 54-mile (90-kilometer) chase. The truck they were planning to use to haul their boat away got stuck in the rising tide.
The totoaba is prized in China for its swim bladder, but by-catch includes vaquitas, of which fewer than 30 remain.
The department said that over the last two years, it had seized 182 such open boats.