Illegal Fishermen 4, Enforcement 0

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Illegal fishing is a problem pretty much everywhere that regulations meet fish. As I noted in September, the United States government puts the global cost of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing at up to $23 billion in lost income for legal fishermen and coastal communities. And that’s before the larger environmental costs are considered.

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In the Latin American instance, Pretoma, a small nongovernmental organization based in Costa Rica, said that the Costa Rican authorities had dropped cases against two shrimp boats that had been caught trawling illegally inside the Caletas-Ario National Wildlife Refuge in 2009.

Although both incidents were documented with photographs, video, GPS positioning evidence and testimony from three witnesses, Pretoma said, the Costa Rican Fisheries Office dismissed the cases. Officials cited “reasonable doubts regarding the calibration and preciseness of the instruments” used to support claims they were operating illegally within the refuge.

Randall Arauz, Pretoma’s founder, said that shrimp trawlers’ regularly violate Costa Rican regulations “because the authorities fail to enforce the law.”

Costa Rica’s president, Laura Chinchilla, has appointed a commission to examine the fisheries authority’s decisions, raising the prospect that policies could be tightened.

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(*Press release translated from official Presidential House´s website: Presidenta juramenta comisión para mejorar la buena gobernanza marina)

San José, December 20, 2011

This morning at the close of the Government Council session, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla swore in a commission whose objective will be to diagnose, evaluate, and recommend precise changes for the country’s marine governance

President Chinchilla formed the commission taking into consideration how the oceans generate distinct goods and services for the country through a large variety of activities including: commercial and sport fishing, aquaculture, navigation, trade routs, landing of products at ports of call, tourism, marinas, whale watching, research, and marine biodiversity conservation.

In addition, Costa Rica’s marine territory is 10 times larger than its land area and its resources are large contributors to the national economy, making its management essential

According to the President, the county must redefine its vision and outlook in relation to its use of marine resources with the intent of protecting them and devising ways of sustainable use for the benefit of future generation

President Chinchilla also confirmed the need to designate a commission with the power to assess and analyze the country’s marine unconstitutionality in a way that strengthens institutions responsible for its management and control in order to abide by established environmental laws and improve their effectiveness

Commission's members (left to right): Marco Quesada, Carlos Alvarado, René Castro, María Virginia Cajiao, Xinia Chaves, Ana Lorena Guevara y Alfio Piva

Beginning in January 2012, the commission will work to consolidate astrategy that involves all marine natural resource users.  Over the course of the next three months, through a process of consultations and discussions, it hopes to devise a diagnosis that exposes the true state of the country’s marine territory.  In June, an official presentation to the president of the commission’s findings is planed along with its recommendations for the improvement of marine governance in order to arrive at an improved strategy for marine management

The commission consists of the following members:

-A presidential coordinator: M.Sc. María Virginia Cajiao, technicalsecretary and consultant to the Presidential Environmental Council

-A representative from the Agricultural Ministry (MAG): Vice Minister Xinia Chave

-A representative from the Environmental Ministry (MINAET): Vice Minister Ana Lorena Guevar

-A representative from security/navigation: M. Sc. Carlos Alvarado from ICD

-An expert in oceanography and marine biology: Dr. Marco Quesada from Conservation International

-The commission will also be formed by Costa Rica’s vice president Alfio Piva Mesén who, along with Cajiao, will be the coordinator of all commission work.

The Tank Bangers is diver band that wants to support marine conservation. The band will soon produce a single “Our Blue”, and has committed to donating part of the profits to a marine conservation NGO.  Pretoma could be that NGO!  The benefitted NGO will be elected through an internet vote.  There is time until Monday.  Enter The Tank Banger’s FB site:

Before voting, you must become members of the group. As soon as you are accepted, please, go ahead and issue your vote.  Thanks for supporting Pretoma.

Once again, Incopesca shows its commitment to protect the interests of foreign shark finning fleets, at any cost.  According to statements by Luis Dobles, President of Incopesca, last

September 4th in this newspaper (pg 16), the Belize flagged Tawianese vessel Wai Jai Men 89, admitted that about 5% to 10% of its cargo of 20,000 kilos of shark meat did not have the carcasses, which is about 1000 to 2000 kilos of fins, because the sharks had been used for bait or had been eaten by the crew.  What did Incopesca do about it?  Allow the landing of the legal products, so as to not affect the interests of this shark finning businessman, but not allow the landing of separated fins, illegal under Costa Rican law.  Now, most certainly, these fins will be landed in Nicaragua, where they will be imported back into Costa Rica by land, authorized by Incopesca under Technical Note 68, Authorization for the Importation, Exportation, and Traffic of Sharks and Shark Fins.  Why isn’t this foreign vessel punished for shark finning?  ¿Friends too powerful?

Our coasts are on the edge.  With a global race being run to exploit coastal resources, we push these areas of economic, environmental, and social importance closer to the tipping point.  Assuming these pressures will not subside in the foreseeable future, we must begin to identify and implement sustainable development strategies for the planet’s coastal areas if we’re to continue to enjoy the treasures they bring to society.  One small piece of the puzzle is the creation of sustainable production methods and responsible consumption strategies.  In Costa Rica, fishers are using sustainable techniques to catch snappers.  They then sell these snappers to local hotels whose guests are encouraged to participate in the purchase and consumption of a locally produced product.  The project is being implemented here and has yielded sustainable fishing strategies and a responsible tourism industry that benefit one another in environmental protection efforts and the socioeconomic development of local residents.  When replicated, the project will contribute to the sustainable development of entire coastlines.

Artisanal spotted snapper fishers using bottom longlines (pic: Erick Lopez)

The project is facilitating participatory management of theSouthwesternNicoyaPeninsula’s coastal resources among artisanal snapper fishers and government officials through the identification of responsible fishing techniques that preserve local snapper stocks and the development of marine protected areas that allow for these techniques while prohibiting other destructive ones.

The environmentally conscious visitor’s desire for sustainable seafood options and willingness to contribute to local development projects is then served through the direct sale of responsibly caught seafood between fishers and tourism establishments.  Local markets between fishers and tourism operators also eliminate lengthy chains of custody that result in meager earnings for primary producers (fisher folk).  Higher fisher earnings will act as incentives for locals to continue to apply their responsible fishing techniques, thus insuring will be ample resources for future generations of fisher folk to extract.

The project is being evaluated for a Marine Stewardship Council sustainability certification, and in February, 2011 project designer Andy Bystrom  lead a campaign that won National Geographic’s and Ashoka Changemakers’ Geotourism Challenge 2010: Places on the Edge – Saving Coastal and Freshwater Destinations.  The project has also been named a finalist for the Savannah Ocean Exchange’s 2011 Navigator Award where Bystrom will present PRETOMA’s work during the September 7-9 event in Savannah, Georgia.

Hotel Punta Islita, a local 5 star resort interested in purchasing seafood directly from local fishers (pic: hotelpuntaislita.com)

Summary of project’s key points:

Project involves 2 artisanal fishing associations along Costa Rica’s Northern Pacific Coast

• Both associations use a technique known as demersal bottom long lines to target spotted snapper (Lutjanus Guttatus)
• Researchers are collecting date and finding that bottom long lines are a responsible way to fish because they do not result in the over exploitation of the snapper population
• The Ministry of the Environmental (MINAET) has established 2 marine protected areas in the study’s area.  These allow the use of bottom long lines but do not allow other unsustainable fishing techniques like shrimp trawls and gillnets
• The artisanal snapper fishers are beginning to market their “sustainable snappers” to local tourist hotels and restaurants
• Tourists can help in the sustainable development of coastal communities by buying quality, locally caught, sustainable seafood.  The extra $ they pay goes directly to the fishers and gives them an economic incentive to continue to fish responsibly
• The project is being evaluated for an international Marine Stewardship Certification (currently there are no internationally certified fisheries inCosta Rica
• Project will be replicated to benefit other coastal areas where the fishing industry and the tourism industry interact

Watch the project’s question and answer video:

Pretoma’s sustainable fishing project

Read the Opinion of Randall Arauz in La Nación, August 1^st, 2010.  “Shark finning at large in Costa Rica”.

(June 2, 2011 – San José, Costa Rica)

The Costa Rican shrimp trawl fleet catches and drowns about 15,000 sea turtles per year.

Shrimp exports to the United States will continue embargoed, according to Public Notice 7490 issued by the State Department last May 27, pursuant to section 609 Law 101-162, which imposes embargoes on shrimp from nations whose fleets do not protect sea turtles from drowning in shrimp trawl nets.  In contrast, 12 countries passed the certification:  Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistán, Panamá, and Suriname.  Shrimp from Belize will have free access to the United States as it prohibited shrimp trawling in its waters as of December 31st, 2010.

Link: http://www.pretoma.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/2011-13702_PI-DOS-turtle-shrimp-certification.pdf

Costa Rican shrimp has suffered 4 embargoes since 1999.  A shrimp embargo has been imposed on Costa Rica since May of 2009, over two years, and will continue for an indefinite time.

“The national shrimp trawl fleet has shown that they have no interest whatsoever in marine conservation nor sustainable fisheries,” denounced Randall Arauz, President of the Costa Rican organization Pretoma.  “They don’t only kill turtles, they also target snappers and groupers, threatening sustainable artisanal fisheries”, added Arauz.

We hope the government of Laura Chinchilla takes strong corrective measures”, said a hopeful Miguel Gómez, of Pretoma.  “Marine conservation and sustainable fisheries just can’t coexist with shrimp trawlers,” sentenced Gómez

International experts call for increased protection of leatherback sea turtles in Eastern Tropical Pacific

(April 18, 2011 – San José, Costa Rica)

The International Sea Turtle Society (ISTS), a group of renowned experts on sea turtle biology and conservation, gathered during the 31^st Annual Sea Turtle Symposium in San Diego, California, last week, unanimously adopted a resolution calling on countries with fisheries operations in the Eastern Tropical Pacific to fulfill their obligations to prevent the extinction of leatherback sea turtles in the region, and to report to the global public on their efforts to protect this critically endangered species.

The ISTS expressed concern that not only over ten years have passed since a study in Nature (2000) reported that in the East Pacific leatherback sea turtle populations have experienced declines of over 90% during the past two decades, due in large part to fisheries interactions, but also that following warnings by prominent scientists that this population is facing imminent risk of extinction, annual nesting numbers in the East Pacific have continued to decline in spite of more than a decade of protection and monitoring at key nesting sites where egg exploitation and poaching have been effectively eliminated.

The resolution targets the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles (IAC) and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Convention (IATTC), both of which have agreed to binding measures to protect these sea turtles by implementing the FAO Guidelines for reducing sea turtle mortality in fishing operations, which includes the adoption of time-area fishing closures in areas and seasons of high interaction with sea turtles.  However this has not yet resulted in any single concrete regional action to reduce leatherback sea turtle interactions with fisheries in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.

The ISTS also urges the governments of Costa Rica and Ecuador to establish a protected area between Cocos Islands and the Galapagos where fisheries are regulated in order to protect leatherback sea turtles and other species from fishing activities in areas and during times of increased interaction that result in high mortality and contribute to their critically endangered status.

“Their time is running out”, said Rebecca Regnery, of Humane Society International.  “We now have critically important science on leatherback migratory movements that we didn’t have 10 years ago to design temporary closures that could be compatible with certain fisheries operations, so now it’s a matter of moving forward with the political will to save these creatures”.

“Costa Rica recently expanded protection around Cocos Island National Park by creating a concentric “multiple use area” around the 12 mile no take core, and is working with the local fishery industry to design a fisheries management plan for the new protected area,” said an optimistic Randall Arauz of the Costa Rican NGO Pretoma.  “These efforts however, must be regional, and the IAC and the IATTC must call on their Parties to take effective action to protect leatherback sea turtles during their migrations from and to nesting and foraging sites, not just talk about it”.

For more information:

Rebecca Regnery.  Humane Society International   rregnery@hsi.org

Randall Arauz.  Pretoma / Costa Rica   rarauz@pretoma.org   (506) 2241 5227

El Salvador: Limited areas for industrial shrimp trawling and artisanal fishing

Last week the Legislative Assembly established new limits for industrial and artisanal fishing defining the first nautical mile (1,852 meters) from the low tide line out to sea to be an aquatic reserve.

The new limits also prohibit commercial shrimp trawling efforts inside three nautical miles of the coast while artisanal efforts are only prohibited inside the first nautical mile.

In the changes to the General Planning and Fishing and Aquaculture Promotion Law, representatives reiterated the prohibition of trawl nets, a practice used in shrimp fishing that involves dragging the net across the sea floor while capturing everything in its path, in addition to other unselective methods not authorized by the authorities.

“Industrial fishing vessels use trawl nets that result in negative consequences such as the uncontrolled exploitation of resources and in thousands of tons of marine fauna bycatch that is thrown away, not to mention the destruction of the sea bed”, reads the decree, approved by 75 votes.

Research for the new law was an endeavor of the new Environmental and Climate Change Commission.  It reviewed proposals from artisanal fishing associations complaining about how industrial shrimp trawlers were destroying the sea bottom and leaving them with no fish of their own to catch.

Sea Turtle and Shark Tagging Expedition in Southern Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica.

From February 10th to 17th, 2011 a team of 9 researchers from both PRETOMA and CIMAR, have embarked on the yacht Sirenus to investigate the southern coast of the Nicoya Peninsula.  The a purpose of this expedition is to tag sharks and sea turtles, while monioring the coastline which includes the three marine protected areas of Camaronal and Caletas-Ario National Wildlife Refuges and the Cabo Blanco Absolute Natural Reserve.

During the expedition we intend to capture bull sharks (Charcarhinus leucas), using hooks, and Olive Ridley and Green sea turtles using gill nets.  Once captured the animals will be fitted with acoustic and satellite tags which will help the researchers learn if their movements throughout the zone is continuous or seasonal, moving through cetain types of habitats such as feeding zones.

Submerge yourself in the cruise and become part of the virtual crew of this expedition by visiting this blog.

Day 1 (February 11):  After a smooth 5 hour passage from the Los Suenos Marina in Playa Herradura last night and a peaceful rest aboard Sirenuse, which anchored one mile from Playa Bejuco in Nandyure, Guanacaste, the alarm clock rang at 5:00 in the morning for us to begin the preparations for our day.  Configuring the tagging teams, preparing the bait for fishing and setting up the scuba diving equipment, which will be used to identify the locations for acoustic receivers and complete transects of the bottom composition, lasted until 9:00 am.

The team was strategically divided into 3 groups.  The first group was in charge of setting 5 hooks baited with squid on a short longline at specific depths close to the Sirenus as well as chumming the water (using a mixture of skipjack tuna) to disperse the scent which attracts the sharks to the area.  For 24 hours a day during the next week, the hooks will be checked at set intervals with hopes of having luck to catch the expected shark.  A smaller boat left with another group to set the gill nets and continously monitor them.  The final group departed for the first exploratory dives of the area.

Unfortunatley the day passed uneventfully.  A spotted eagle ray was caught incedentally in the gill net, which was happily set free with no injuries.  The lack of luck was also seen at the hooks, the sharks did not appear and did not seem to want to bite.  Local fisherman suggested moving in closer to the shore and Sirenus moved hundreds of meters closer to the beach.  After 6 exploratory dives throughout the day, some of which lasted no more than a few minutes, through unfavorable conditions including strong currents and extremely low visibility, the team of divers managed to collect some bottom composition data fom Punta Pilas, north of Playa Bejuco.  From the information learned from these dives, it appears that Punto Bejuco is not the appropriate haitat for the Olive Ridley sea turtle as the the majority of this location appeared to have short ,steep, rocky reef area resulting in the majority of the sea floor to be purley sandy bottom.

Around 5:00pm, the dive team returned and the gill nets were collected.  Fresh bait was added to the hooks which will be set out all night under continuous viligence, sacraficing valuable sleeping hours.

Tomorrow will be a new day and we hope to have more luck with the captures of sharks and sea turtles as well as setting an acoustic transmitter in the zone.  Dinner awaits, salad and delicious pasta with tomato sauce.  Good night and until tomorrow!!!

Day 2 (February 12): For some of the expedition members, last night wasn long enough, as they had to prepare bait, repair  fishing gear, and even work on this blog.  Early morning tasks start again slightly before 6:00 am.

Chumming is very important to attract sharks.  4 skipjack tunas are cut and chopped up, together with fish guts that were given to us early morning by the artisinal fishermen of Bejuco who had been fishing all not long.  The bait on the hooks was changed for fresh bait, hoping we would have mor luck than yesterday.  3 additional hooks were set close to the wave break and in front of the Bejuco estuary, hoping to have more chances of catching bull sharks in one of their favorite habitats, river mouths.  The divers on board the Pearl and the turtle netting team on the Dolphen head towards Punta Pilas, ton continue with the transect counting and capture of sea turtles.

The dive team continued to experience some trouble due to the oceanic conditions, such as bad visibility and strong current, in spite of which fortunately the morning is easy and incident free.  Every now and then dolphins surprise my playfully jumping in front of the bow of the boat.  No sharks nor turtles were caught, but several cow nosed rays swam close to the boat, attracted by the chum.

After lunch, finally some action.  One of the buoys moved rapidly, sinking up and down repeately.  Suddely, the buoy stopped moving.  The line was checked, and the bait had evidently been bitten.  Could it have been a shark?  We can’t be sure, but the event encourages us to continue.  The turtle catching team discovers that the current has dragged the turtle net dangerously close to the rocky outcrops.  After a lot of work, the net is untangled from the rocks, but still, the net ends up tangled and ripped.  The rest of the day, the turtle team aborts operations and dedicates to repairing the net in deeper and calmer waters.  Some section of the net suffer sever damate, and will have to be repaired early tomorrow morning.

As of yet, we still haven’t caught any turtles or sharks, although we have already counted 20 quadrants in Punta Pilas.  The Sirenuse has now moved a few miles south, to Punta Coyote, where we will be working for the next two days.  We have already tagged 14 hawksbill sea turtles, 1 green turtle, and two olive ridelys since June of 2009, and the presence of bull sharks in the Coyote Estuary and Caletas beach is well known and documentes.  We hope the dive during the next two days will be easier and more relaexed.

We can feel the good vibes surrouding us.  Good night for right now, from the Sirenuse.

Click here to read article: Belize Bans Bottom Trawling in Exclusive Economic Zone