At the bilateral meeting attended by President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico and President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China during the Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries in Xiamen City on September 04, 2017, both leaders reiterated their commitment to the conservation of endangered species, particularly the vaquita. This meeting represents support at the highest level for the creation of a trinational group to combat the illegal trafficking of totoaba, an agreement derived from the first Mexico, United States and China Trilateral Meeting held recently in Ensenada, Mexico. 

On August 23-25, 2017, over 40 officials from China, Mexico and the United States met in Ensenada to create a tri-national enforcement taskforce to halt totoaba trafficking, coordinate species forensics training, and develop a joint public awareness education program. Representatives from UNESCO, IUCN, and the CITES Secretariat were also there to join the discussion. This trilateral meeting, facilitated by NRDC, was the first time after CITES COP17 (when the decision to protect the totoaba was made) for the three countries to review past efforts and agree on next steps to save the last vaquitas. 

The vaquita is the world's smallest and most endangered species of porpoise living in the northern parts of the Gulf of California in Mexico. Bycatch of gillnet shrimp fisheries and the illegal trafficking of totoaba – another endangered species endemic to the Gulf of California– are the key threats to the vaquita. Swim bladders taken from the illegally fished totoaba are smuggled into Asian countries from Mexico and the U.S. for food. To save the vaquita from extinction, we need to stop the use of gillnets and to stop the illegal trade and consumption of totoaba.