Click here to read the report

PARIS (AFP) — A third of the world’s open water sharks — including the great white and hammerhead — face extinction, according to a major conservation survey.

Species hunted on the high seas are particularly at risk, with more than half in danger of dying out, reported the Shark Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The main culprit is overfishing. Sharks are prized for their meat, and in Asia especially for their fins, a prestige food thought to convey health benefits.

The survey of 64 species of open water, or pelagic, sharks — the most comprehensive ever done — comes days before an international meeting on high-seas tuna fisheries that could potentially play a role in shark conservation.

For decades, significant numbers of sharks — including blue and mako — have perished as “by-catch” in commercial tuna and swordfish operations.

More recently, the soaring value of shark meat has prompted some of these fisheries to target sharks as a lucrative sideline, said Sonja Forham, Policy Director for the Shark Alliance, and co-author of the study.

The Spanish fleet of so-called surface longline fishing boats ostensibly targets swordfish, but 70 percent of its catch, by weight, from 2000 to
2004 were pelagic sharks.

“There are currently no restrictions on the number of sharks that these fisheries can harvest,” Fordham told AFP by phone. “Despite mounting threats, sharks remain virtually unprotected on the high seas.”

Sharks are especially vulnerable to overfishing because most species take many years to mature and have relatively few young.

Scientists are also set to meet in Denmark to issue recommendations on the Atlantic porbeagle which, despite dwindling numbers, failed to earn protection at the last meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), in 2007.

Canada led the charge to block the protective measure, supported by Argentina, New Zealand and some Asian countries.

Europe is the fastest growing market for meat from the porbeagle and another species, the spiny dogfish.

The demand for shark fins, a traditional Chinese delicacy, has soared along with income levels in China over the last decade. Shark carcasses are often tossed back into the sea by fishermen after the fins are cut off.

Despite bans in international waters, this practice — known as “finning” — is largely unregulated, experts say.

The report identified the great hammerhead and scalloped hammerhead sharks, as well as giant devil rays as globally endangered.

The smooth hammerhead, great white, basking, and oceanic whitetip sharks are listed as globally vulnerable to extinction, along with two species of makos and three types of threshers.

Some 100 million sharks are caught in commercial and sports fishing every year, and several species have declined by more than 80 percent in the past decade alone, according the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

The IUCN issues the Red List of Threatened Species, the most comprehensive and authoritative conservation inventory of the world?s plants and animals species.

For more information:

Pretoma
(506) 2241 5227
andy@pretoma.org ; info@pretoma.org

Randall Arauz
Co-Regional Vice Chair (Central America and Caribbean)
Shark Specialist Group, IUCN

Pretoma is a Costa Rican Civil Association of Public Interest and is an active member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature IUCN and the World Society for the Protection of Animals WSPA. For more information visit www.pretoma.org

Click here to read about how drug smugglers used over 20 sharks to hide slabs of cocaine.

(San José, Costa Rica - 12 de junio, 2009).
A study by the University of Costa Rica’s (UCR) Center for Marine Research (CIMAR) supporting the operation of tuna farms in Costa Rica’s south Pacific, was the reason why the Ministry of Environment and Telecommunications (MINAET) once again approved the project, according to the Minister himself, Jorge Rodríguez.

Rodríguez gave his statement during a Press Conference in Costa Rica’s Congress last June 11, which was called to announce that the country had cancelled its debt with the International Whale Commission, and was now better suited to lead global processes to protect these species.  When asked if the operation of tuna farms could threaten populations of whales and dolphins that live and breed in Costa Rican waters, the Minister expressed his concern, but justified MINAET´s decision on CIMAR’s study.

Video of Minister Rodríguez

“We have read CIMAR´s study on tuna farms thoroughly, and no matter how hard we try, we can’t find anywhere that it approves the tuna farms”, said a doubtful Randall Arauz, President of the Costa Rican organization PRETOMA.  “Actually, CIMAR’s study indicates that a previous long term exhaustive study must be held regarding the currents and effects that the generation of tons of metabolic wastes could have on the delicate ecosystem of the Golfo Dulce”.

CIMAR report on Tuna Farms

In March of 2007, the Constitutional Court had suspended the execution of the Tuna Farm project, due to the uncertainties surrounding the destiny of the metabolic wastes and the possible effect on the Golfo Dulce.  Furthermore, the Court ordered that the suspension could not be lifted, until scientific studies were held that cleared the doubt.

“Up to this day, no studies exist regarding the currents, thus the mandate of the Constitutional Court has not been abided by”, said Andy Bystrom, Director of Communications of PRETOMA.  “It is very important that CIMAR publicly state its position, the future of the Golfo Dulce depends on it”.

For more information:
Pretoma
info@pretoma.org
Tel (506) 2241 5227

Pretoma is a Costa Rican Civil Association of Public Interest, and is an active member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA).

(San José, Costa Rica -  May 28, 2009)- The Costa Rican organization Pretoma delivered a letter today to President Oscar Arias which was signed by 704 citizens who participated in Costa Rica’s first national rally to halt tuna farming on May 23-24 in Pavones, Puntarenas.  The letter calls on the President to revoke the Ministry of Environment’s (Minaet) decision to go ahead with the tuna farm project, which had been suspended since May of 2007 by order of the Constitutional Court. According to the letter, the Ministry of the Environment is not abiding by the court ruling that suspended the execution of tuna farms until technical certainty exists that can confirm that the Golfo Dulce, a tropical fjord, would not be affected by the massive amounts of metabolic wastes produced by the tuna.

Local residents line-up to sign a petition against tuna farming

The two day event was staged in a remote area of the country (an 8 hour drive from San José), but the region’s aloofness did little to deter people from supporting the movement to stop tuna farming.  Artisanal fishermen, tourism operators, children, tourists, Guaymi indigenous citizens, and others came together to voice their concerns over the unbridled exploitation of the area’s natural resources.

“What a phenomenal event”, said Jonnie Haas, Pavones resident and event organizer, “the thing I remember most is the children all gathered around the table to carefully sign the petition and watch the tuna farming video”.  He went on to mention that this event is only the beginning of the community’s grass roots movement to stop the tuna farms.

The area’s two unequivocal economic strengths are fishing and tourism, both fed by the natural beauty and bounty of the Golfo Dulce and its surrounding verdant hillsides.  Coincidently, both are threatened by burgeoning concerns regarding Minaet’s decision to approve an international project to unsustainably strip the area of its natural resources, solely for the harvesting of tuna.  The project is slated to have a life span of 8 years, during which time the company, Granjas Atuneras de Golfito S.A., plans to earn 20 million dollars per year, only to skip town when natural tuna stocks become depleted and pollution concerns pose a risk to profits.

Perhaps the greatest part of the weekend was how people from all walks of like came together for a common cause. Guaymi, one of Costa Rica’s indigenous Indian, walked for hours just to voice their support, and they did so shoulder to shoulder with local fishermen and sun burned surfers.

“I can’t believe this” mentioned one anonymous local observing the spectacle of children’s games, rubber boot races, and traditional dances, “you just don’t see things like this in Pavones”. And if the public gets their way, you won’t see tuna farms either.

Translated from article below:

After the coming into force of Article 23 of the Fishing and Agriculture Law, which banned the industrial fish trawling, the Socialist Institute for Fishing and Aquaculture (INSOPESCA) expects to take actions to regulate shark fishing.

This measure is included in the previsions assumed by INOPESCA, since it considers this kind of fishing could be subjected to overexploitation and affect its sustainability.

In this regard, the shark fishing regulation represents one of the most remarkable proposals given the high commercial value of the shark’s fin. If approved, Venezuela could be exempt of the crisis that threatens this kind of fish in the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean.

Ornamental and sport fishing could also be modified. Regarding the sport fishing, we are studying the kind of fish for this practice, while the ornamental fishing requires new regulations in order to control its exploitation in the sea and river.

Insopesca Press Office / May 21, 2009

Regulan pesca de tiburón en Venezuela

Environmental Ministry Rejects Pretoma’s Appeal

(April 30, 2009 – San José, Costa Rica)

Costa Rica’s Environmental, Energy, and Telecommunications Ministry (Minaet) formally rejected Pretoma’s appeal that requested the minister reconsider Setena’s decision to approve Granjas Atuneras de Golfito S.A’s. tuna farm project (R-J-185-2009).  With this decision, Minaet has granted the project’s definitive environmental viability, thus laying ruin to the administrative process designed to duly evaluate the environmental impacts of projects such as this one.

The Golfo Dulce without tuna farms

Last February 16, Setena strengthened its support for the project by rejecting Pretoma’s original appeal.  The appeal was filed because in Pretoma’s view Setena’s ruling did not adhere to the Constitutional Court’s order in 2006 to more thoroughly investigate the project’s potential environmental impacts, including metabolic waste produced by the tuna in captivity, and whether or not the Golfo Dulce’s currents would sweep this waste into the gulf, which could cause serious impacts to the fragile ecosystem.

To make matters worse, neither Minaet nor Setena acknowledges the project’s possible impacts to sea turtle populations that nest on beaches in and around Punta Banco (the would-be site of the tuna cages).

“We don’t agree with Minaet’s final decision because the inconsistencies that led to the Constitutional Court’s suspension of the project have yet to be resolved”, said Andy Bystrom from Pretoma. “Because of Minaet’s conscious decision to dismantle the administrative process to please the initiatives of an international corporation, we will now pursue other options designed to halt bullish projects such as this one.”

Pretoma is not the only entity with serious reservations towards the project. The overwhelming majority of local residents are fearful of the tuna farm’s potential impacts on the Golfo Dulce. In the event that the tuna waste is carried into the gulf, levels of organic contamination would increase causing damage to the areas two largest sources of employment: sustainable artisanal fishing and ecological tourism.

“This disappointing news comes as no surprise, as the political decision to allow the development of the project despite its environmental concerns was taken since 2004”, said a frustrated Randall Arauz, Pretoma’s President.  “It’s clear that community members, among with artisanal and sports fishermen, and ecotourism operators, fear that the tuna farm project will adversely affect their way of life”, he added.

Community members of the Golfo Dulce have organized an event this coming May 23-24 in Pavones, called “Let’s Save the Golfo Dulce”.  DON’T MIISS IT, and say NO to the Tuna Farms.

(May 6, 2009 – San José, Costa Rica)

The US Department of State`s Bureau of Oceans, Environment, and Science imposed a trade embargo on all Costa Rican shrimp exports to the US, effective as of May 1.  The embargo is due to Costa Rica’s failure to enforce its laws that require commercial shrimp fishers to protect sea turtles from capture and death in trawl nets by using Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs).

According to a report issued by the State Department, the decision to embargo Costa Rica was the result of a multi-year investigation that involved certification visits and data compiled from credible third-party sources. The evidence points out how Costa Rica’s Fishery Institute (Incopesca), didn’t “provide sanctions for TED violations that served as an effective deterrent against the failure to use TEDs”.

Green sea turtle killed by shrimp trawl

“Incopesca has been extremely negligent”, denounced Andy Bystrom of Pretoma, a Costa Rican NGO that has worked on TED issues since 1997.   “In meetings with the State Department in December 2008, Incopesca was warned that Costa Rica`s shrimp could be embargoed, to which the officers responded that they would resolve the problem in early 2009, but they haven’t done a thing”.

Costa Rica was the only country whose shrimp was embargoed by the US.  The 15 nations that retain their hold on the US shrimp market are: Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Suriname, and Venezuela.

“This is Costa Rica`s 4th shrimp embargo since 1999, which comes to prove that a long term official policy has been to ignore domestic TED regulations and allow the needles massacre of thousands of sea turtles, drowned by industrial shrimp trawlers”, said Randall Arauz, President of Pretoma.  “Our concern now is the rest of the Central American countries where shrimp trawling occurs, as TED regulations are not strictly enforced anywhere in the region”.

“Shrimp fishers non-compliance with TED laws is a chronic problem occurring throughout the world”, said Todd Steiner, executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network, in Forest Knolls, CA (www.seaturtles.org).

TIRN is also in negotiations with the U. S. government after submitting a 60-day notice of intent to sue the US Department of State for its failure to create a meaningful and transparent process of evaluating nations to ensure proper protection of sea turtles in shrimp fishing under Public Law 101-162 section 609 of the U. S. Endangered Species Act. This provision requires nations exporting shrimp to the US to use comparable technology to ensure sea turtles do not drown in shrimp nets.

Video of shrimp trawls and sea turtles in Costa Rica

What’s at Stake…

Granjas Atuneras Golfito’s tuna farm project is awaiting final approval from Costa Rica’s Environmental Ministry.

The project wouldoffer little if any economic feedback for the rural communities that surround the Golfo Dulce.  What’s more, the project threatens to disrupt the gulf’s delicate ecosystem, a natural resource that supports local fisheries and sustainable tourism opportunities.

Survey results of the local population show an overwhelming anti-tuna farm sentiment; however, with few expendable resources to allocate to derailing the project, more powerful political and economical intentions are driving the proposal closer to implementation.

What we need to do to stop this!

Raise public support against the tuna farm project by:

a)    Placing several full page advertisements in La Nación, Costa Rica’s largest and most prestigious newspaper, as well as in other influential newspapers (La Extra, Al Día), calling for the public to show their support by signing and faxing the advertisement to Costa Rica’s president, Oscar Arias
b)    Producing a 50 second TV Public Service Announcement to be broadcast on Costa Rica’s main TV channels
c)    Printing flyers, brochures and t-shirts
d)    Updating a website for electronic “sign-ons”
e)    Organizing a formal coalition against the tuna farms

Confront political interests:

a)    Lobby the new government’s political Ministers and Deputies
b)    Hold events against the tuna farms (debates in colleges, schools, newspapers and other media)
c)    Hold a referendum in August, 2010

How you can help.

Option 1–

Pretoma is accepting donations through it’s online “click-and-pledge” secure donation software, accessable from the website’s main page.

Option 2–

A bank account in dollars at Costa Rica’s Banco Nacional has been opened solely for those wishing to donate to the tuna farm campaign: Account number 100-02-148-600286-2 under the name, Asoc. Programa Restauración de Tortugas Marinas

Pretoma is a Costa Rican NGO with tax exempt status for national corporations.  We also have tax exempt status in the United States.

Please, contact us at inaranjo@pretoma.org or info@pretoma.org for information if you are interested in doing an international bank wire, or are planning on filing this as a tax exempt donation in the United States.

You can also write a check made out to “Pretoma”, and mail it to:

Pretoma
1203-1100
Tibás, San José
Costa Rica

PS: Don’t forget to include a note “earmarking” the donation for the Tuna Farm Campaign

Tuna farm case history:

Please click on the links below for access to various  tuna farm legal case documents:

• On May 9, 2007, Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court “suspended the execution” of Granjas Atuneras de Golfito S. A’s. tuna farm project

• Setena’s re-approves the tuna farm project November 6, 2008  (Resolution 3170-2008)

• The University of Costa Rica’s Center for Marine Research (Cimar) study on tuna farming
  

• Setena’s February 16, 2009 rejection of Pretoma’s appeal and continued approval of the project (Resolution 377-2009)

Exports to the United States Jeopardized

(San José, Costa Rica - April 22, 2009)–The Costa Rican organization Pretoma is requesting that the United States government deny sea turtle protection certification to Costa Rica’s shrimp trawl fleet and implement an embargo on all Costa Rican shrimp exports.  A letter requesting an embargo was submitted on April 13 to the State Department in Washington, D.C. and is based on Law 169-102, section 609, which states that foreign fishing countries desiring access to the U.S. market must practice a comparable standard of sea turtle protection as done in the United States, something Costa Rica does not do.

Diagram of a TED inside a shrimp trawl net

The law, enforced since May 1, 1996, allows the U.S. to impose an embargo on the exportation of shrimp from countries whose shrimp trawl fleets do not use the Turtle Excluder Device (TED), a simple apparatus that allows sea turtles to escape from trawl nets without effecting the operation’s profitability. Costa Rica has suffered three trade embargoes since 1999, the last one in May of 2006, after the industry lost access to the United States’ lucrative market for one year.

In the letter, Pretoma details an analysis of the procedures utilized for the sanctioning of shrimp trawl vessels that do not use TEDs, and points out how Incopesca, Costa Rica’s fishing regulations entity, has demonstrated time and again its inability to make shrimpers trawlers comply with national legislation that mandates their use.

Over the last five years, 29 shrimp trawls have been caught red handed either fishing without TEDs, using tampered TEDs, or with other serious technical problems that compromise their effectiveness to free turtles, this according to information obtained through Incopesca and the Coast Guard National Service (SNG). In addition, over this same time several boats have been caught twice without their TEDs.  None of the aforementioned cases has resulted in a sanction of any kind and all boats have been permitted to continue operating.

“The national shrimp trawl industry doesn’t only ignore TED legislation, it also flagrantly violates legislation that prohibits fishing in marine protected areas”, denounced Randall Arauz, Pretoma’s president.  He went on to denounce “without a national entity willing to enforce the country’s sea turtle protection laws, we’re left with no choice but to turn to nations that do”, meaning the United States.

A shrimp trawl operating in Costa Rica

Pretoma concludes that Costa Rica does not implement its sea turtle conservation laws, and consequently thousands of sea turtles drown in shrimp trawl nets each year.  Furthermore, the organization recommends that the U. S. State Department should impose a trade embargo on Costa Rican imported shrimp until fishing authorities demonstrate the political will to change this situation.

“Costa Rica has the option”, explained Todd Steiner, executive director for the TURTLE  ISLAND  RESTORATION  NETWORK (TIRN), “it can make the shrimp trawl industry adopt the best practices to save sea turtles, or it can loose the privilege to sell it’s shrimp to the United States”.

Additional information:

•    Costa Rica’s shrimp trawl fleet numbers 55 boats and captures 15,000 sea turtles per year, the majority of which die by forced immersion

•    90% of captured sea turtles are olive ridleys (Lepidochelys olivácea) and 10% are green turtles (Chelonia mydas)

•    TED use reduces turtle capture by 97% without effecting the amount of shrimp caught

•    The U.S. government must annually certify the shrimp trawl fleets of those countries wanting to export shrimp to the U.S. to ensure they properly use the TED

•    Costa Rican shrimp trawl fishermen have received TED use training on repeated occasions from USA government agencies, shrimp fishermen from Georgia (USA), and national NGOs.

For more information:

Pretoma
Tel (506) 2241 5227
Fax (506) 2236 6017
email: info@pretoma.org; andy@pretoma.org
website: www.pretoma.org