New petition against shark fin imports in Costa Rica

Press Release

PRETOMA

New petition delivered to President Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica against shark fin imports

27. July 2012

A petition signed by 1937 citizens was delivered today to President Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica, calling for her to take measures and immediately ban the importation of shark fins.  This new petition adds up with two others delivered last year (12/7/2011 and (19/9/2011) with 4500 signatures from Costa Ricans and citizens from 34 nations, including 380 signatures by Taiwanese citizens.

As of December 1 of 2010, date on which the private docks of Puntarenas were closed to the landing of fishery products by the Taiwanese fleet established in Puntarenas, Costa Rica has imported over 15,500 Kg of shark fins from Nicaragua.

According to Miguel Gómez, collaborator of Pretoma, congruency must exist between domestic and foreign marine conservation policy.  “For instance, Costa Rica has included hammerhead sharks in Appendix III of Cites to control its international commerce, but at the same time it promotes the importation of shark fins by Taiwanese vessels that refuse to land their products under public scrutiny,” pointed out Gómez.

“The importation of shark fins is a mockery of our legislation, and it perpetuates shark finning in the region,” says Randall Arauz, of the Costa Rican organization Pretoma.  “We thus call again on President Laura Chinchilla to strengthen Costa Rica’s leadership in the regional shark conservation and management processes currently underway in the region, and proceed to ban the importation of shark fins.”

Source: PRETOMA