Memoirs of a Totoaba Swim Bladder

International Save the Vaquita Day

July 24th 2021

Wrapped in bow-tied brown paper.

Guangzhou –

Guangdong Province.

China.

12th – 26th December 2018.[1]

I remain unseen,

Undetected,

And unprotected.

Operation SY608 failed me.

My host was taken from the sea

And now I am an illegal detainee –

Hanging in hegemony

Above embers

Of seared salmon.

16 individuals arrested.

444.3kg of maw confiscated.

I am just 1% of the weight of my host –

500g at most.[2]

But, I was mutilated -

Commercially diced and calculated,

And now I weigh just 50g (1-liang).

My host was a woman –

Reducing my value lower

Than my frail,

Male,

Neighbour.

Permeated with fumes arising from the

S81 Guangzhou Ring Expressway -

My soul still cindering was

Cremated in an urban ashtray.

I was led astray

From my host,

Of whom was

Discarded in the dark depths

Of the Sea of Cortés;

The Vermilion Sea.

Here,

My host became

Bloody debris

Because of me –

“Cocaine of the sea”.

I miss her.

I killed her.

She was murdered for me –

Her amputee.

She,

Consumed as a delicacy

Or simply dumped back into the sea,

Was slaughtered for me.

Her murder,

Illicit,

With one exception -

Earth Ocean Farms;[3]

Freedom to bear arms.

A special permit granted

To fish the Totoaba –

My host,

The roast

Of the Yaqui, Seri and Cucupá.[4]

She,

No longer caught for the

Indigenous community,

But instead,

Was trafficked

With impunity.

Covert operations

Are captured on camera

By Sea Shepherd -

Framing the portraits

Of criminals

And their bycatch -

The Vaquita -

Driven to imminent extinction

By the unconscious,

Indulgent

Eater.

Suspended cities

Of plastic nets

Woven in a grid-like structure,

Capture the civilians of Cortés -

The Vaquita.

Phoenix Arizona,

A flat metropolis,

Lies a 360 miles drive -

10, 85, 8, 195,

And lastly,

Number 5 highway –

From San Felipe.

Phoenix Arizona,

A lattice of unsuspecting

Sinkholes,

A grid of natural extraction,

A catalyst of chain reactions,

Mirrors this marine world

Of whose future is yet to be told.

Greed drives the consumer

To climb an incessant ladder –

Always wanting more

Than before;

The Totoaba bladder,

And my host –

My net-evading ghost.

So here I am –

Hanging in hegemony

Above embers

Of seared salmon.

16 arrested –

Their trafficking operations contested.

Yet my doppelgangers arrive

Unannounced,

Tipped off;

The products of bribery,

For the upper echelons of society

In Asia.

If my host continues to be hunted

The Vaquita will be whisked into

Obsolescence.

Tomorrow as the sun beats down

On the Vermillion sea,

We wait for news on the Vaquita’s

Liberty -

Their continuity.

Please stop buying me!

_______

References

[1] ECNS, (2018). China customs cracks major totoaba smuggling ring. Available at: http://www.ecns.cn/news/2018-12-26/detail-ifzccnsu7720354.shtml.

[2] 2016. COLLATERAL DAMAGE: How illegal trade in totoaba swim bladders is driving the vaquita to extinction. [ebook] London: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). Available at: https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA-Collateral-Damage-FINAL-mr.pdf .

[3] Tasteatlas.com. n.d. Totoaba Fish | Local Blue Fish From Baja California. [online] Available at: https://www.tasteatlas.com/totoaba-fish .

[4] Paracchino, P., n.d. Totoaba Fish - Arca del Gusto - Slow Food Foundation. [online] Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Available at: https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/totoaba-fish/ .