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

(July 20, 2011 – San José, Costa Rica)

Fabio Buitrago, Nicaraguan activist and shark protector

According to reports published in the Nicaraguan press (La Prensa, Monday July 18, page 4a), an unidentified foreign vessel landed between 4 and 8 tons of shark fins in Puerto Sandino, which were then exported to Costa Rica.  The denouncement was made by Nicaraguan biologist Fabio Buitrago who told the press that according to Nicaragua Fisheries authorities there is no measure in place that impedes shark exploitation, even though article 75 of the country’s Fisheries Law states that, “the capture of sharks for the single use of their fins is prohibited”.

Municipal authorities in San Juan del Sur have denied permission to future boats soliciting permission to land shark fins, after it was publicly exposed on April 30^th that the Belize- flagged Taiwanese-owned Hung Chi Fu 68 landed an unknown amount of fins that were then exported to Costa Rica.  For this very reason, the latest landing of shark fins occurred in Puerto Sandino.  According to the Nicaraguan press, the government is proposing changes to the Fisheries Law that would weaken existing shark finning legislation facilitating increased landings of shark fins by foreign flagged vessels.

“Costa Rica has to immediately ban the importation of shark fins in order to stop this unscrupulous industry”, said Randall Arauz of the Costa Rican organization Pretoma.  “This Taiwan foreign fleet that uses all sorts of flags to circumvent regulations, is here for only one thing: TO FIN SHARKS, it’s about time that the countries in the region start taking serious measures against these modern day pirates”, said Arauz.

(July 12, 2011 – San José, Costa Rica)

June 5, 2011. Environment Fair, Paseo Colón, San José, Costa Rica. More tan 800 folks signed the petition for President Chinchilla to ban the importation of shark fins

A letter signed by 4039 Costa Rican citizens, was delivered today to the country’s President Laura Chinchilla, urging her to sign an Executive Decree banning shark fin imports.  The letter was also signed by 324 citizens of 39 countries, from Taiwan to the United Kingdon, concerned over shark finning and the new loophole that the foreign fishing fleet now uses to circumvent Costa Rican controls and laws.
As of last December 1st, Costa Rica has mandated that foreign fishing vessels must land their products at public docks in accordance with articles 211 and 212 of the General Customs Regulations Law and the Constitutional Court mandate of January 2006 (Res. 1109-2006).  The recent sentence against Tsa Yu Jen, the Taiwanese Captain of the Belize flagged vessel Hung Chi Fu 12 for landing 2,000 Kg of sharks without fins at the public of Puntarenas exposed the ease with which the foreign fleet has, for years, sidestepped the law and landed shark fins in Puntarenas.
Regrettably, shark finners have now devised yet another trick to dodge national legislation, one that involves landing the shark fins in Nicaragua where they are then loaded into Costa Rican trucks and imported (via land) into Costa Rica.  The fishing vessel then arrives in Costa Rica several days later for supplies and to land the rest of its fisheries products.
“This is a mockery of Costa Rica’s internationally acclaimed shark finning controls, and which the country so proudly promotes”, said Randall Arauz of the Costa Rican organization PRETOMA, the group that coordinated the letter’s delivery.  “Furthermore, shark fin imports seriously compromise other marine conservation measures that this government has recently adopted, for example the private dock closure to foreign boats and the creation of the Marine Managed Area around Cocos Island”, added Arauz.
“Banning shark fin imports will strengthen Costa Ricas’s international image and will not, under any circumstances, affect the domestic fishing industry”, said Miguel Gomez from PRETOMA.  “We’re confident that President Laura Chinchilla will hear the cry of the Costa Rican people and the concerned citizens of the world, and immediately ban shark fin imports”, said an optimistic Gomez.

The Los Angeles primary school becomes the first educational center to adopt a Cocos Island satellite turtle
(June 16, 2011 – San José Costa Rica)

Randall Arauz, Pretoma’s President, presents Jesús González García, from the Los Ángeles primary school, a certificate of adoption

Yesterday, Pretoma officially launched its “Adopt a Satellite Sea Turtle” campaign to support its efforts to improve marine conservation politics through scientific research that involves tagging sea turtles and sharks with satellite transmitters in order to study their migratory routs and threats.  Pretoma decided to kick-off the campaign by recognizing the Los Angeles primary school’s accomplishment of raising $1,400.00 during organization’s 2010 initiative to fundraise through educational centers to support sea turtle nesting beach conservation projects.
The cost to adopt a satellite turtle is $1,200 with the donor retaining the right to personally name the turtle.  Every time the turtle surfaces, the transmitter sends, via satellite, its geographic position, water temperature, and depth the animal dove to.  The lifespan of the transmitter is between two months to a year.  All newly adopted turtles will be fitted with their transmitters during Pretoma’s next expedition to Cocos Island in September.

Thank you address from Randall Arauz, Pretoma’s President, to the Los Ángeles student body

“Now, students who have done so much to protect sea turtles on their nesting beaches can continue their involvement with these animals by tracking their movements around Cocos Island and learning about their daily activities and the threats they face”, said an enthusiastic Randall Arauz, Pretoma’s President.  “Not only do we need scientific data, but also a society that is more aware if we’re going to influence policy making that leads to effective marine conservation efforts”, asserted Arauz.

“We’re inviting every educational center and private company to participate”, said Alexia Garro, Pretoma’s campaigns consultant.  “We’ll go to your school or work place and give a detailed workshop on the science that’s going on out at Cocos Island with sea turtles along with ways you can help”, said Garro.

“The students decided to name this turtle Manuelita”, said a proud Fabián Álvarez, Los Angeles’ science teacher.  “The workshop had a big impact on them and they’re really motivated and interested to see where Manuelita goes and in participating in future conservation and marine resource management initiatives”, concluded Álvarez.

(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

Belize flagged Hung Chi Fu 68, docked in “Terminal Pesquera”, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. April 30, 2011.

(San José, Costa Rica – May 17, 2011)

No longer able to land hundreds of tons of shark fins per year at private docks in Costa Rica, the foreign fleet is now landing its consignment of fins in Nicaragua.  Concerned over the situation, Nicaraguan environmental organizations have warned governmental authorities of the situation but have yet to receive any response from the Environmental and Natural Resource Ministry (MARENA), the INTUR Ministry, and the PESCA (Fisheries) vise minister.

Last April 30 the Belize flagged vessel Hung Chi Fu 68 was photographed landing its cargo in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.  This same boat, under its previous name Hsin Chi Tsai #6, has been documented landing its cargo at the Mariscos Wang private dock in Puntarenas, the same company that filed suit against the Costa Rican Fisheries and Aquaculture Institute (INCOPESCA) for prohibiting them of landing their cargo at private docks.

“Just like what happened with the private dock issue in Costa Rica, now in Nicaragua we have a similar problem”, declared Fabio Buitrago of the Nicaraguan organization Fondo Natura.  “Those that have wanted to view the landings have been denied access to the Fisheries Terminal via both by water and by land, and all landing procedures are being done at night so no one can see what’s going on”, added Buitrago.

“What kind of monitoring and biological observation measures are in place in order to calculate the impact of this new fisheries phenomenon in Nicaragua?” asked Edgar Castañeda, renowned Nicaraguan environmentalist.  “Nicaragua cannot allow shark finning to occur here, nor can it sit back and allow the marine ecosystems that support thousands of artisanal fishers to be destroyed”, stated Castañeda.

Since 1998, the foreign fleet established one of its hubs for shark fins from all of Eastern Tropical Pacific in Puntarenas, Costa Rica.  As of this past December 1, the foreign fleet has been required to land at public docks in Costa Rica, in abidance with the country’s General Customs Law.  As a result of the enforcement of the law, the Belize flagged vessel Hung Chi Fu XII, was caught red handed last March 2 landing 2000 kg of sharks without fins, and its Taiwanese captain, Tsa Yu Jen, was fined $36,000.00.

“Without a doubt, the recent sentence against the Taiwanese captain triggered this new move of the foreign fleet to Nicaragua”, said Randall Arauz, president of the Costa Rican organization PRETOMA.  “Regional policy against the free operation of foreign fleets is essential, as we know that both Panama and Belize facilitate the use of their own flags to these unscrupulous business owners, and that shark fins are landed by them in Panama, El Salvador, and Guatamala”, denounced Arauz.

According to the complaints, trucks with Costa Rica license plates receive all the fishery products, but is still unclear if the fins are exported directly to Asia from Nicaragua, or if they are imported into Costa Rica and then exported to Asia.

“I’m calling on the Costa Rican authorities to investigate this case and if necessary that President Laura Chinchilla, as soon as possible, prohibit by Executive Decree the importation of shark fins, and this way clean up once and for all the shark finning image that this country portrays to the rest of the world due to the foreign fleet”, urged PRETOMA’s campaigns consultant Miguel Gomez.

Figure 1. Map of the Marine Seamount Managed Area. Click to view full version.

Decree will regulate the sustainable extraction of resources around Cocos Island National Park

San José, Costa Rica, 05/10/2011 – The International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Costa Rican National Committee expressed its satisfaction over the creation of the Marine Seamount Managed Area, covering 9640 km2 around Cocos Island National Park.

The newly formed Marine Protected Area is the first of its kind created inside Costa Rica’s Exclusive Economic Zone (188 nautical miles beyond its territorial oceanic zone) and the second largest in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, surpassed by only Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands.  The executive decree that created the area will facilitate the protection and sustainable management of the area’s marine resources.  The management category allows such activities as sport fishing and longlining, in addition to research, environmental monitoring, and ecotourism activities subject to authorization per the area’s Management Plan.  Furthermore, the Management Plan prohibits industrial and semi-industrial shrimp trawling along with petroleum exploration and exploitation.

The multi-use area looks to find a balance between extraction and conservation as it protects marine life existing around the seamounts where deep coral formations and aggregation sites (resting, reproduction, cleaning, feeding) for highly migratory pelagic species like whales, sea turtles, rays, billfish (marlin and sail fish),sharks, and tuna are found.

Environmentalists are calling attention to the fact that Costa Rica’s marine territory (589,683 km2) is 11 times larger than its land mass.

“The creation of this Marine Management Area increases the percentage of protected marine territory from .79% to 2.42%, a figure that equates to 14,281 km2”, said Jorge Jiménez, General Director for MarViva – a member organization the the IUCN’s National Committee.

The IUCN’s National Membership Committee, made up of 18 NGOs and governmental agencies, works in close synergy to develop alliances to promote responsible natural resource management.  Its objective is to propitiate a dialogue between multiple social sectors in order to lobby for environmental initiatives.

“We’re advancing towards the goal set during the IV World Park Congress of a governmentally established network of Marine Protected Areas by 2012.  This is to say that some kind of protection should exist for at least 10% of the marine species within their jurisdictions”, expressed Jorge Polimeni of the Ecological Flag Foundation and President of the IUCN’s National Committee.

“The Marine Seamount Managed Area is congruent with the IUCN member’s priorities for marine conservation”, Randall Arauz from committee member PRETOMA said with satisfaction.  “During the last IUCN’s World Congress in Barcelona, Spain 2008, the plenary adopted Recommendation 4.111 titled Conservation of the leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriácea and hammer head sharks Sphyrna sp in the Eastern Tropical Pacific corridor, in which the implementation of measures to control and manage the fishing effort are urged.  These include the use of selective technologies and the creation of multi-use MPAs.”

Tags: coco, decreto, sostenibilidad, uicn

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.

Public dock, Barrio El Carmen, Puntarenas.

(April 6, 2011 – San José, Costa Rica)

The Administrative Civil Court unanimously rejected yesterday an appeal against the decision of this Court to annul the precautionary measure that allowed foreign fleets to continue using their own private docks.  Since December 1 of 2010, the Costa Rican Fisheries Institute mandates the use of public docks for foreign fleets (AJDIP 371-2010), in an effort to halt shark finning operations, but the representatives of the foreign fleets filed suit against Incopesca, claiming it had no authority to do so, and even won a precautionary measure that allowed them to continue using their private docks until the end of the legal process, which was fortunately annulled by the Court last February 25.

The lawyer who filed the appeal en representation of the shark fin companies Mariscos Wang S.A., Porta Portense S.A., and Transportes El Pescador S.A., argued that Incopesca was causing an irreparable economic damage to his clients.  He also claimed that it was not possible for the companies to abide by the so called “Active Perfection Regime”, granted by the Ministry of Foreign Commerce, because the public dock doesn’t meet the right conditions.  Nonetheless, the shark finning companies were unable to prove to the Court that the use of a public dock implied any economic or quality loss.

Jorge Ballestero, of the Costa Rican organization Pretoma, expressed his satisfaction with the resolution.  “Costa Rica is now abiding by our Customs Law in its articles 211 and 212, which mandates the use of public docks on behalf of foreign fleets as a condition to receive their products,” informed Ballestero.  “In fact, the law has no caveat whatsoever which would allow the importation of products through private facilities, not even in the absence of public infrastructure, as in the privacy of the docks it is impossible for the State to protect the public interest”, clarified Ballestero.

According to Randall Arauz, also of Pretoma, the mandate for foreign fleets to use public docks has had an immediate effect, exposing how they have taken advantage of the loopholes facilitated by the Executive branch to fin sharks for years.  “The Flagrancy Court has already found one Taiwanese Captain guilty of landing finless sharks in the public dock of Puntarenas, something that had never been done after 12 years of landing at private docks”, informed Arauz.  “Malice in this case was evident, as the Taiwanese Captain was landing finned sharks mixed together with whole sharks, showing he had full knowledge of the illegal nature of his acts and tried to cover them up,” accused Arauz.

The legal dispute continues.  The shark finning company Mariscos Wang filed yet another suit at the Appeals Court against the Flagrancy Court that condemned the Captain of vessel Hung Chi Fu 12 for landing finless sharks.  Furthermore, the case against Incopesca, which was filed by the representatives of the shark finning industry for mandating them to abide by the law, will continue.

March 23, 2011 – San José, Costa Rica

Today at 5:00 pm, the court will resolve on the case of the Taiwanese Captain accused of shark finning.

During the conclusions, the Public Ministry requested a year of prison against Tsa Yu Yen, a 3 million colon fine (US$6,000) and the decommission of the Belize flagged vessel.

Furthermore, the court could seize the 16 million colones ($32,000) produced by the sale of the confiscated products to Mariscos Wang.

The defense lawyer, Victor Herrera, indicated to the Court that the felony shouldn’t be considered environmental, but penal.  The Costa Rican non profit organization Pretoma, expects the sentence to congruent with article 139 of the Fishery Law.

“This is certainly an environmental felony, particularly because the vessel was clearly finning shark”, declared Jorge Ballestero, Vicepresident of Pretoma.

The Association of Fishermen of the Pacific consider that this case must be trialed with severity, otherwise, a loophole will be opened to continue the criminal act of shark finning in Costa Rica.

The trial is being held in the Court of Puntarenas.