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The vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise, may be saved from extinction thanks to measures agreed yesterday at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission.

Unique to the Gulf of California, this iconic animal has seen its numbers collapse from 567 individuals in 1997 to just 59 in 2015. The main reason is that they get accidentally caught and drowned in gill nets spread out to illegally catch totoaba fish, whose swim bladders are prized in Chinese medicine.

Now, will oblige the Mexican government to enforce gill-net bans throughout the range of the vaquita, also known as the “panda of the sea”. Likewise, efforts will be strengthened to eliminate the illegal trade in swim bladders from totoaba, and increase funding for vaquita monitoring programmes.

“It’s not too late for the vaquita, but it’s going to be close, with only an estimated 59 animals left,” says Matt Collis, the team leader at the meeting for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. “What’s truly tragic is that this could have been entirely preventable, because we’ve long known where vaquitas live and what we need to do to protect them.”

“Now, it’s mostly a case of enforcement, by the Mexican government to eliminate gill nets, and enforcement of bans on traditional totoaba products,” he says. “We’ve seen this dramatic escalation in trade that’s reduced vaquita numbers by 90 per cent in just 20 years, so it’s critical that a body like the IWC speaks out and acts.”

Sanctuary setback

The in Portoroz, Slovenia, brought together 64 member countries to discuss the future of whales and whaling.

Hopes for a new whale sanctuary in the south Atlantic were dashed when the vote on its creation failed to get the required three-quarters majority. Commercial hunting would have been banned within its waters.

Despite disappointment that the , environmentalists finished the meeting on a high after several pro-conservation measures were passed.

These included subjecting Japan’s controversial “scientific whaling” programme to and a resolution recognising that rather than depleting fisheries, whales boost them by the mass recycling of nutrients in their dung.

Whale dung victory

“Passing the resolution is an important marker for the IWC because it’s acknowledging that we need to protect whales for reasons other than the welfare of the whales themselves,” says Collis. “It’s an important counterpoint to what we’ve heard from whaling countries: that whales are in competition with fisheries. Instead, we’re finding out that whales help to maintain fisheries.”

“We should not be having conversations about managing whale stocks,” adds Astrid Fuchs from Whale and Dolphin Conservation. “We should only be talking about how we can promote and enable their recovery, as our survival may well depend on theirs.”

“After centuries of commercial whaling, it’s only now that we’re coming to understand the remarkable roles they play in helping to maintain and nurture marine ecosystems,” says Mark Simmonds, senior marine scientist at . “Protecting these majestic creatures isn’t just the right thing to do ethically, but could also be the wise thing to do ecologically.”

Curtailing Japan’s whaling

The agreement to subject all Japan’s future proposals for “scientific whaling” to independent scrutiny delighted conservationists. Although the IWC agreed a moratorium on commercial whaling 30 years ago, Japan has killed an estimated 15,000 whales since 1987 under the pretext of scientific whaling.

To do this, Japan essentially reviews and grants itself a special permit each year that allows it to catch whales for scientific purposes. From now on, applications for permits will be vetted by other member countries, who will be able to inspect and veto any proposals judged scientifically unjustifiable.

“Till now, Japan has decided for itself, almost like marking their own homework,” says Collis. “It’s incremental but important progress that the IWC is becoming more involved, making the permit process more transparent.”

This year, Japan has killed hundreds of whales in Antarctic waters despite the UN’s International Court of Justice ruling in 2014 that the nation’s whaling activities there are not for the purposes of scientific research.

Between the close of the meeting today and the next gathering in two years, Collis hopes Japan will halt its whaling activities.

“That’s the simplest thing: for Japan to just stop,” he says. His other hope is that backers of the south Atlantic whale sanctuary will gather evidence to counter any objections next time, so that it eventually becomes a reality.