Abstract

(…) Gerrodette and Rojas-Bracho (2011) fit a quite detailed Bayesian model to sparse data on vaquita (Phocoena sinus) abundance in order to investigate the likely effects of different degrees of protection from bycatch. From this they draw conclusions that are surprisingly definite given the limited information available. The expertise of those authors is likely to make their analysis influential beyond its application to that species. This letter, respectfully, questions their approach and conclusions in order both to reevaluate the difficulty of preserving the vaquita, and to draw wider lessons for the analysis of similar data sets. (…)