Gillnet fisheries pose the greatest threat to the vaquita population. Current bycatch estimates are unavailable, but in the early 1990s an estimated 39 to 84 individuals were caught by fishermen from one...
An alteration to the lower edge of a trawl net in which the “mouth” is raised high enough in the water column to prevent it from dragging across the benthos. Raised footropes are obligatory during certain periods of the year in bottom trawling in Massachusetts to reduce the bycatch of non-target demersal species such as flounder.