UN Resolution a First Step for Protection of Leatherback Sea Turtles
Written by Ramiro Suarez
Tuesday, 06 December 2005
UN Resolution a First Step for Protection of Leatherback Sea Turtles
November 29, 2005 – San Jose, Costa Rica On November 28, 2005 the UN General Assembly approved a Fisheries resolution that includes calls for controls on fishing fleets to protect sea turtles. Two articles in the resolution are an important first step on paper which can help to bring Pacific leatherback sea turtles back from the brink of extinction. The articles call for time and area closures in areas where there is high sea turtle activity as part of a series of UN FAO Guidelines on reducing impacts of fishing operations on sea turtles. These calls stem especially from international concerns regarding the steep decline in populations of leatherback sea turtles of the eastern Pacific. Scientists estimate that the number of nesting adult females has declined 99% in the last 25 years with fewer than 1000 remaining. A clear example of this is the steep decline at Playa Grande, Costa Rica, the most important nesting beach for Pacific leatherbacks in all of Central, North and South America. Fifteen years ago, 1367 leatherbacks nested there. Last season, there were just 52. “The fisheries resolution aims to address the major threat longline vessels pose to leatherbacks,” says Randall Arauz, President of PRETOMA. “Leatherbacks, and all sea turtles, face a multitud of threats, but their accidental capture in fishing operations is considered to be a grave threat which needs to be addressed with the spirit of the precautionary principle, so that these 100,000,000 year old creatures do not disappear.” The Costa Rican government originally called for the UN FAO Guidelines to be included in the resolution during a United Nations pre-resolution meeting in June, 2005. \Since October, 2005, forty thousand Costa Ricans, three Costa Rican city governments (Heredia, San Isidro de Heredia and Belen), the Orphan Hospice of San Jose, multiple NGOs such as APREFLOFAS, FECON, Yiski and UESPRA signed a PRETOMA petition thanking the Costa Rican government for originally proposing the text and urging the government to strengthen the text in the final resolution. A popular national website www.navegalo.com also played a huge role in obtaining thousands of signatures from younger generations. “We are grateful to the thousands of people, from grade schoolers to retirees, who have made their voices heard, saying, do not let the leatherback disappear,” says Edgar Castrillo, Campaign and Environmental Education Coordinator for PRETOMA. “Given that Costa Rica plays such an important role as a nesting site for leatherbacks we have a responsibility to lead the way for protection of these turtles.” “The resolution is just a first step, because it merely calls on nations and fishery organizations to implement the UN FAO Guidelines, however that implementation is voluntary. What is truly needed is a moratorium on longline fishing in the eastern Pacific to establish marine protected areas and other concrete policies for sustainable fishing and protection of endangered species.” CONTACT: Randall Arauz, President PRETOMA TEL: +(506) 241-5227 FAX: +(506) 236-6017 PRETOMA (Programa Restauración de Tortugas Marinas) is a Costa Rican non-profit, non-governmental, marine conservation organization that works to promote sustainable fisheries and protect sea turtles, sharks and marine biodiversity. PRETOMA is a member of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) and WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals). Contact / www.tortugamarina.org.
