The Cartel's Cash Catch

Editor's Take

In the Gulf of California, this VICE report ties the near-extinction of the vaquita porpoise to the illegal trade in a fish prized in Chinese markets. It follows conservationists, smugglers, and the cartel interests that profit from nets the small porpoise cannot survive. The reporting is on-the-ground and immersive, characteristic of the outlet's embedded style. It frames a wildlife crisis as an economic and criminal one, where the pressures driving extinction are human and financial.

This VICE investigation heads to the Gulf of California, where a tiny porpoise called the vaquita is being driven toward extinction by nets set for a valuable fish prized in China. It follows the race to save the last of the species, the smugglers and cartels profiting from the illegal trade, and the conservationists risking everything to intervene. The film links wildlife crime to organised money in a way most nature stories never do. It is a tense report from the front line of a vanishing sea. Free to watch in HD on Dr Documentary.

Courtesy of VICE on YouTube. Watch on YouTube ↗

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