Don’t Be a Hero: Leave Sailfish in Water for Photos

by: Todd Staley - Crocodile Bay Resort
printed in the Tico Times - March 18th, 2011

Bragging is part of human nature. We all do it, no matter what activity we partake in. I’ve seen bird-watchers nearly exchange punches as they reviewed their sighting scorecards at the end of the day, accusing each other of inventing the number of different species they saw. Fishermen, I believe, were born with a more dominant bragging gene than most of the general public. For any type of bragging, photographic proof is the most convincing tool of all. Thus, the “hero shot” was born.

The traditional hero shot shows an angler posing in front of the camera with a giant smile, proudly displaying what he or she has caught. If one is keeping the fish as a food item, it doesn’t much matter how you take the picture, because the fish is going in the icebox. If the fish is going to be released, however, it is a different story altogether.

As 90 percent of anglers coming to Costa Rica are after sailfish, and all sailfish must be released by law, let’s talk about them. You can go to almost any website that features fishing in Costa Rica and see photos of sailfish being dragged across the gunwale of the boat and posed with the angler for the “hero shot.” Then the fish is put back in the water. This had been the norm for more than two decades.

Research has shown that doing this greatly reduces the fish’s chance of survival. It puts added stress on the fish, damages internal organs and removes the protective slime from the body. Fish secrete a mucoprotein that covers the scales and skin, acting as a defense against illness caused by bacterial, parasitic and fungal invasion.

In December 2008, Costa Rica passed a law making it illegal to remove sailfish from the water for the purpose of taking a photo. A 2 million colones ($4,000) fine can be imposed on those found in violation of the law. For the most part, this law has been ignored by the sportfishing fleet for various reasons. First, I’d bet you a boatload of ballyhoo most people don’t even know the law exists. And website and brochure photos with happy people posing with big sailfish sell fishing trips. When tourists see these types of photos advertised, they want to bring home their own hero shot, with the sailfish onboard, to show all their friends back home. Fishing crews oblige them in hopes of getting a good tip.

I have no idea how many sailfish I have dragged over the gunwale of a boat for a photo over the years. But a few changes and a little education can go a long way. First, fishing operators should remove sailfishonboard photos from their advertising. The place where I work, Crocodile Bay Resort, removed all but a few photos posted by clients themselves in the customer gallery section of our website before the new law went into effect. Second, educate the crews to stop pulling the fish up for photos. And lastly, educate the tourists. I have found that if you conduct a good orientation before the boat leaves the dock, explaining that no onboard hero shots will be taken and why, the public accepts it without a problem.

A new momentum toward marine conservation is emerging in Costa Rica. The current administration of President Laura Chinchilla seems to represent the best opportunity there has been in a long time to get positive changes made. Sportfishing operators need to create a tighter brotherhood and demonstrate that they are willing to be more conservation-minded. Part of this is stopping the onboard hero shot.