The vaquita is the world most endangered marine mammal, with fewer than 10 individuals remaining, all threatened by illegal gillnet fishing in the Gulf of California.
The vaquita case illustrates the intersection of individual welfare and species survival in its starkest form. Every individual vaquita killed in a gillnet — drowning, suffocating, panicking in the net — is both a welfare tragedy and an irreplaceable population loss. With fewer than 10 individuals remaining, there is no meaningful separation between individual welfare and species survival. The primary threat — illegal gillnets targeting totoaba — is driven by a criminal market operating despite international law. Effective enforcement, demand reduction for totoaba swim bladder in consumer markets, and international pressure on Mexico to implement genuine gillnet exclusion represent the last remaining interventions that could prevent extinction.