According to a recent article, “Today, the Gulf of California remains a productive if diminished fishery, contributing 54% of Mexico’s 2.2 million tonnes of commercial seafood in 2017, according to Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development. But those numbers belie a bitter struggle now underway — one that has lawless poachers, economically strapped fishermen, international conservation groups, and feckless regulators squaring off over the value and purpose of this blue expanse.” The issue of contention lies around vaquita marina, “a captivating but rarely spotted species of porpoise”, which is found in the northern reaches of the Gulf, and of which only 20 remain. The idea, of course, is to save them.

To do so, and under pressure from environmentalists, Mexico initially curtailed and then banned fishing in the area, with a single exception. However, the Gulf waters are home to the totoaba, a silver fish that can grow to more than six feet and weigh 220 tonnes, and is heavily in demand, especially in China, for its...