19 May 2026.
The IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force is deeply concerned to hear about a new decree in Mexico which aims to reclassify the Port of Loreto in Baja California Sur as a deep-sea, commercial port.
Located in the Gulf of California Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA), Loreto Bay is a feeding area and hangout for blue whales, including mothers with calves. Besides being an IMMA, the area overlaps a National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Gulf of California IMMA, 276,000 km2 in size, is of world class importance for an extraordinary diversity consisting of 33 marine mammal species including critically endangered vaquita, as well as humpback and gray whales, and the endangered blue whales. These regulatory changes to reclassify a key port in the IMMA, may compromise the integrity of this protected area and are thus of serious concern, not only at a national level, but internationally.
The Task Force has written to the President of Mexico, Dra. Claudia Scheinbaum Pardo, to appeal to her “to undertake an independent, science-based environmental assessment,” to “explore mitigation measures such as rerouting of vessels and speed restrictions,” and to “align decisions with national and international biodiversity commitments.”
The full text of the letter follows:
