PRETOMA and WildAid Release Data Regarding the Taiwan-Costa Rica Connection in the Shark Fin Issue and Costa Rican Customs Failure to Control Private Docks. 

San Jose, Costa Rica - PRETOMA and the international conservation organization WildAid which recently called o­n the Taiwanese government to ban shark finning, release data today showing that Taiwanese vessels landing at unauthorized private docks in Costa Rica play the largest role in the shark fin issue in Costa Rica. 

In the months of September and October of this year, 51 long line fishing vessels, the type used to fish sharks and shark fins, landed at Puntarenas, the largest Costa Rican port o­n the Pacific. Of those 51, 25 were Taiwanese vessels. The Taiwanese vessels that actually provided a cargo lading bill landed 546 tons of shark products, but that figure is incomplete because many Taiwanese vessels did not provide lading bills. The most striking figure of all is that every single Taiwanese vessel landed at a privately owned dock in violation of Costa Rican Customs Law. According to Costa Rican Customs Law, Article 212, no foreign fishing vessels may land at a private dock unless that dock has been approved by the Directors of Customs as "in the public interest". "In the public interest" means that a private dock meets government safety and product commercialization requirements, and that the dock would be accessible to the public and government agencies as public property. Currently not a single private dock in Puntarenas is authorized by Customs to receive foreign fishing vessels, yet private docks are the o­nly docks that long line foreign fishing vessels land at.

"Taiwanese vessels are landing massive amounts of shark products at docks where there are absolutely no controls," says Randall Arauz, Director of PRETOMA. "For years Customs has been knowingly ignoring its very own law which is remarkably convenient for any Taiwanese vessel interested in landing shark fins."

Flawed Inspections of Taiwanese Vessels + Customs Loopholes
= Open Window for Landing Shark Fins

If o­ne examines how foreign long line fishing vessels are inspected when they arrive to Puntarenas, o­ne finds a massive loophole in the inspection process. These vessels are required to first arrive at Caldera, the public dock 7km south of Puntarenas, for inspection. However, the dock at Caldera is too high for vessels to land their cargo there. Since vessels cannot land their cargo in Caldera, the inspectors do not inspect all the cargo. Therein lies a major flaw in the inspection. Inspectors look at the top layer of cargo in the hold yet do not actually see what's below the top layer where vessels can store shark fins. A perfect example of this occurred early in November when Coast Guard officials inspected the Harezan, a Costa Rican flag longliner owned by a Taiwanese citizen, coming into Puntarenas. The officials boarded the vessel while still at sea, checked the hold as best they could and found o­nly whole sharks. Hours later, the same vessel was filmed illegally landing tons of shark fins at a private dock in Puntarenas. In spite of this obvious flaw in the inspection process, inspectors from Customs and INCOPESCA (Costa Rican National Fishery Department) give their stamp of approval to the vessels at Caldera. From Caldera, vessels steam directly to private docks in Puntarenas. The private docks are built like small fortresses. Their walls reach up to 5 meters high and often have double or triple rolls of razor wire atop. They are inaccessible to the public, and authorities including INCOPESCA, Customs, the Coast Guard and the Police need a warrant to enter. The combination of cargo not being fully inspected and vessels landing that cargo at private, inaccessible docks means officials do not know exactly what these vessels are landing.

Film footage showing shark fins being landed at these docks has been turned over to Customs and INCOPESCA as an example of the clear lack of controls. Furthermore, the Coast Guard has filed numerous denouncements to INCOPESCA about Taiwanese vessels landing shark fins at private docks. 

Under pressure, Customs officials appear to be planning to partially authorize the private docks in Puntarenas, but they suggest doing this without making the docks in the public interest, such that the private docks would maintain their inaccessible, private status. 

"If Customs officials do this they will be utterly failing in their public service, it would be irresponsible in the extreme," says Arauz. "They would be representing the interests of the dock owners and Taiwanese vessels that want to land lucrative shark fins in Costa Rica rather than representing the Costa Rican people. We are talking about serious carelessness that has been going o­n for years and Customs and every single agency involved in port controls should be doing everything in their power to bring these docks into compliance with the law."

"Costa Rica and Taiwan are two countries that have publicly stated their commitment to responsible fisheries, yet Costa Rica does not apply its laws regarding port controls and Taiwanese vessels are taking advantage of the lack of control," says Arauz. "If these countries are truly committed to responsible fisheries, the Taiwanese government will order Taiwanese vessels to abide by Costa Rican laws, and the Costa Rican government will apply the laws and authorize private docks in the public interest. Anything else would simply represent irresponsible fishery policy."

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