Costa Rica: Shark finning trial continues this Wednesday

Press Release

Pretoma

11. March 2014

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Businesswoman Kathy Chang Tseng in the dock

(March 11, 2014 – San José, Costa Rica).

This Wednesday march 12, will be held in Puntarenas the continuation of the trial against Kathy Tseng Chang for shark Finning (File N° 11-203870-431-PE). The case dates back to September 28, 2011 when the businesswoman tried to download 652 fins. According to biological expertise number 3551-ZOO-BIO-2011, the fins were not naturally attached to a stem.

The case was discovered by the National Customs Service of Costa Rica and was presented by the Head of the National Central Bureau of Interpol (NCB) in San José as a new form of finning during the second meeting of the Working Group on Fishery Interpol Crime, which began in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday, November 4, 2013.

The Costa Rican NGO Pretoma, which has led a campaign against shark finning for over 10 years, calls on the authorities to ensure that this crime is properly punished.

“Remember that national fisheries authorities have been extremely lenient with Taiwanese businessmen involved in activities of finning” said Randall Arauz from Pretoma. “They do not even have feared falling into international ridicule, and has just been possible to reverse their distorted policies by the Comptroller, the Attorney General, and the Constitutional Court”.

Pretoma will properly inform the public about the outcome of these court events.

Source: Pretoma

Note by Shark Year Magazine:

Please see the related press release by Interpol
06. Nov 2013: Costa Rica uses INTERPOL Purple Notice to warn about illegal shark finning

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