Costa Rican Attorney General Rules in Favor of Sharks for the 4th Time
Written by Admin
Monday, 03 July 2006
July 3, 2006 – San Jose, Costa Rica On June 7, 2006, the Costa Rican Attorney General’s Office, for the fourth time in the last 12 months, issued a resolution (C-233-2006) ordering the Costa Rican Fishery Department (INCOPESCA) to require shark fins to be landed attached to their respective bodies in natural form. INCOPESCA has been allowing foreign flag vessels to land fins “tied on” to bodies rather than attached in natural form.
As the Attorney General has stated, allowing the landing of fins “tied on”, runs counter to the national Fishery Law, promotes shark finning, severely complicates identification of species landed, and makes controls against shark finning virtually impossible both at sea and dockside.
INCOPESCA has pushed repeatedly and unsuccessfully for their interpretation of the law. The first and second rulings by the Attorney General (C-269, July 2005 and C-420, December 2005) were simply ignored by INCOPESCA, while the third ruling (C-026, January 2006) was officially appealed. This fourth ruling represents a rejection of INCOPESCA’s appeal.
“INCOPESCA’s policies during Costa Rica’s last administration, particularly the refusal to abide by the Attorney General’s rulings and the best scientific information, deserved Ex-President Pacheco the sad distinction of International Shark Enemy of the Year 2005, and have represented a disgrace for our country and threatened our marine resources,” states Randall Arauz, President of PRETOMA. “We welcome the ruling and hope the new INCOPESCA administration helps end shark finning by finally complying with our national laws.”
The ruling by the Attorney General makes the law clear and states in its conclusion: “The interpretation of Article 40 of the Fishery Law, that shark fins must be landed attached in natural form to their respective bodies, is binding for INCOPESCA.”
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), WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals) and FECON (Costa Rican Conservation Federation).
