Mexico allows limited return of activists to help porpoise

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican government is allowing the environmentalist group Sea Shepherd to return to the Gulf of California to help efforts to save the critically endangered vaquita marina porpoise, but won’t let the group remove illegal gill nets. It marks another Mexican government move putting sovereignty and fishing concerns above the fate of the world’s most endangered sea marine mammal. For years, Mexico relied on Sea Shepherd to remove most of the illegal nets that trap and drown vaquitas, while doing relatively little to combat violent attacks by poachers. But the environmentalists were forced to leave after a New Year’s attack that left one man dead.