The fish bubble fever in China puts two species at risk of extinction

Great demand of the Chinese elite for bubble totoaba and dolphins and dry and squash bubbles pushed these two species to the brink of extinction.

According to Guardian, each of these fish bubbles costs about 2,500 - 9,400 USD, though it has dropped by 60-80% in the past two years. This is why this commodity is called the "seafood cocaine".

It is estimated that the number of vaquita ( "small cow" in Spanish) in the world is less than 100 individuals and no one knows how many totoaba. With the dangerous situation of these two species, conservationists hope that the meeting of the international conference on endangered species (CITES) in Geneva this week will have strong actions.

"The time when the extinction was very close, they were pushed into oblivion by the demand for fish bubbles of a relatively small number of Chinese customers," said Clare Perry, chief investigator of the Environmental Investigation Agency. School (EIA) - a UK-based non-governmental organization said.

Totoaba bubble balloons are sold for sale in Guangzhou, China.(Photo: EIA).

The EIA has just released a new commercial report on January 11, indicating that totoaba's bubble is still publicly available in Guangzhou and Hong Kong as well as online. Specifically, dried totoaba bubbles are sold publicly at 8 stores, although this is illegal.

"In general, traders are also aware that selling totoaba is illegal, knowing fish can only be caught in Mexico and claiming that smuggling between Hong Kong and mainland China is easy. Customs does not regularly inspect fish intestinal shipments, " the report said.

"CITES needs to give a clear message that the illegal trade of totoaba bubble fish is affecting not only one, but two endangered species, and needs to adopt a series of quick recommendations. quickly intensified the required enforcement efforts , " Perry said.

According to Perry, the item is mostly bought by Chinese wealthy as a collectible or gift item, even a financial investment channel.

Bubbles are a special organ in some fish that help them control the body's buoyancy. Traditional Chinese medicine thinks that the bubbles of fish belonging to the family name Sciaenidate, (including totoaba), can cure many different diseases. However, scientists have not found any evidence of this therapeutic effect.

In 1997, conservationists estimated the amount of vaquita to be 567, and by 2015, only 97 individuals remained.

Vaquita is not only the smallest mammal in the world , belongs to the dolphin and whale family, it is also the animal with the most narrow habitat. They can only be found in the northern part of Gulf of California, Mexico, on an area of ​​about 2,300 square kilometers.

Totoaba also lives in this area, but in the breeding season, they move to the Colorado River Delta to lay their eggs.

Despite being included in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there have been no surveys of them in the past 35 years. A totoaba can reach 2 meters in length, weighs 90kg.

Although fishermen took only the bubble of totoaba, the process of catching with gill net accidentally caught both vaquita, causing them to suffocate and die.

"The gill needs to be permanently removed from all fishing activities," Perry said.

Fishing with gill net killed many vaquita.(Photo: Chris Johnson).

After conservationists issued warnings for decades, Mexico finally introduced measures to save vaquita in April last year. President Enrique Peña Nieto issued a ban on the use of fishing gill net in vaquita's habitat for 2 years. The ban also includes financial assistance for affected fishermen, in coordination with Mexican naval forces and regional police.

However, experts fear that the move comes too late. According to EIA, with attractive high selling prices and unresponsive reactions from China, many people will defy a ban, breaking the law to continue catching.

With the recent price decline, EIA investigators believe that it may be possible for illegal traders of this item to hoard prices in the short term. The sale of fish bubbles not only affects totoaba but also other fish. Previously, the Chinese bahaba fish trade, together with totoaba, made this fish nearly extinct, leading to the need to catch totoaba instead.