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Because vaquitas are indigenous to the Gulf of California, Mexico is leading conservation efforts with the creation of the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA), which has tried to prevent the accidental deaths of vaquita by outlawing the use of fishing nets within the vaquita's habitat.[6] CIRVA has worked with the CITES, the ESA, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act to make a plan to nurse the vaquita population back to a point at which they can sustain themselves.[8] CIRVA concluded in 2000 that between 39 and 84 individuals are killed each year by such gillnets. To try to prevent extinction, the Mexican government has created a nature reserve covering the upper part of the Gulf of California and the Colorado River delta. CIRVA recommends that this reserve be extended southwards to cover the full known area of the vaquita's range and that trawlers be completely banned from the reserve area. In November 2014, Greenpeace UK launched a campaign urging its members to write to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to do just this, as well as commence dialogue with the Chinese and US over the commercial transport and consumption of products from species that threaten the vaquita's future, such as the similarly sized totoaba fish which is used in Chinese medicine.[32]
On 28 October 2008, Canada, Mexico, and the United States launched the North American Conservation Action Plan (NACAP) for the vaquita, under the jurisdiction of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a NAFTA environmental organization.[33] The NACAP is a strategy to support Mexico's efforts to recover the vaquita. Also in 2008, Mexico launched the program PACE-VAQUITA, another effort to help preserve the species. PACE-VAQUITA compensates fishermen who choose one of three alternatives: rent-out, switch-out, and buy-out.
In the rent-out option, fishermen acquire temporary contractual obligations to carry out conservation efforts. They are paid if they agree to terminate their fishing inside the vaquita refuge area. There is a penalty if fishermen breach the contract which includes getting their vessels taken by the government. The switch-out option provides fishermen with compensation for switching to vaquita-safe harvesting technology. Finally, the buy-back program compensates fisherman for permanently turning in their fishing permits, as well as their respective gear.[34] In 2008, because of how few fisherman were enrolling in the switch-out option, PACE Vaquita added a yearly, short-term option for fishermen, letting them simply rent the vaquita-safe fishing equipment yearly for compensation. Then, in 2010, this option was broken down even further, giving fishermen the option of buying the vaquita-safe net, or paying the yearly rent, but for less compensation.[15] Despite these efforts, the probability that these attempts at conservation will work is slim. Only about a third of fishermen in the area have accepted these terms so far. Some fishermen continue to fish in the protected areas despite the economic alternatives. Even measuring the population size of the vaquita will be difficult as the rarity of the vaquita bycatch will make it difficult to demonstrate the difference these programs are making.[34]