Buche de totoaba, the ‘cocaine of the sea’

1829

Why is it causing a fishery and environmental crisis?

It is worth more than cocaine, and transnational organized crime networks similar to those of drug trafficking have been created around this fishing product.

Wrapped in plasticized packaging, its illegal traffic transcends borders to reach the Asian continent, especially China, where it is considered a symbol of status and economic power, at the same time attributed to healing and aphrodisiac properties that it does not have, according to scientific studies .

This is the totoaba crop (Totoaba macdonaldi), an endemic species of the Upper Gulf of California that can measure up to 2 meters long and weigh 150 kilograms.

by Sibely Cañedo