Endangered Totoaba Fish Swim Bladders Worth $2.7 Million Confiscated in Largest Seizure Reported - Arizona

(Photo : Joanna Chiu / Getty Images)
Millions of dollars' worth of swim bladders from endangered totoaba fish were seized in Arizona.

During the biggest documented seizure, swim bladders from endangered totoaba fish valued at $2.7 million were confiscated in Arizona.

Swim Bladders at $2.7 Million

At the Port of Nogales in southern Arizona, law enforcement officers recovered more than 240 pounds of illicit fish bladders.

At the Mariposa trading facility in April, US Customs Border and Protection CBP employees found 270 swim bladders of the threatened totoaba fish.

According to reports, the bladders were stowed away in a commercial consignment labeled frozen fish fillets. The US Fish and Wildlife Service USFWS was notified by the CPB officers, and they seized control of the bladders.

There were 242 pounds of totoaba swim bladders that were covered under the Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CITES.

Its estimated worth is $2.7 million, according to the authorities.

Endangered Fish Totoaba Macdonaldi

According to CBP, early DNA testing by USFWS shows the bladders are those of the endangered totoaba macdonaldi species, which is native to Mexico's Gulf of California.

This seizure is thought to be the biggest totoaba seizure ever recorded in Arizona and the second largest of its kind in the whole United States.

Under US law, totoaba fish are listed as an endangered species. Since 1979, the Endangered Species Act has been in effect, claims NOAA Fisheries. In Traditional Chinese Medicine and certain Asian societies, the swim bladders found in the fish and other species that are closely related are highly valued.

Since totoaba fish are federally protected in both the US and Mexico, taking, possessing, transporting, or selling them is prohibited.

Additionally, the Vaquita porpoise, another endangered species inhabiting the Gulf of California, has also perished as a result of the gill-net fishing techniques employed to catch them.

Homeland Security Investigations and USFWS are looking into the smuggling attempt, according to ABC15 Arizona.

Also Read: Ambergris Boulder at $4 Million Confiscated After Smuggle Attempt Failed in India

Totoaba and Vaquita Porpoise

The futures of the totoaba fish and the vaquita porpoise, both of which are in grave danger, are intertwined. The unrestricted demand for totoaba swim bladders, an antiquity revered in Chinese medicine, is at the core of this sad link, and the indiscriminate fishing techniques have proven fatal for the elusive vaquita.

The heart of a boom on the black market is the totoaba's swim bladder, an organ that aids the fish in controlling its buoyancy. These "fish maws," or swim bladders, are said to provide several health advantages in traditional Chinese medicine, including enhancing longevity and energy. The price of totoaba fish swim bladders has increased to astounding proportions as a result of this demand, earning them the moniker "cocaine of the sea."

The vaquita population has suffered significantly as a result of the illicit fishing techniques employed to capture totoaba, notably gillnets. Vaquitas are frequently caught and killed as bycatch in gillnets, which are indiscriminately intended to catch fish by their gills. As a result, the vaquita-whose population is already in decline-has suffered unintended consequences in the rush to supply the coveted totoaba trade.

The phrase "dual extinction," which emphasizes how the vaquita and totoaba's destinies are interwoven, was used to describe how both species are on the verge of extinction. An urgent effort is required to stop the extinction of both species since the population of the totoaba is in a critical condition and the vaquita's population has declined to less than 20 individuals, the Porpoise Conservation Society explained.