Prohibit the importation of shark fins

June 5, 2011. Environment Fair, Paseo Colón, San José, Costa Rica. More tan 800 folks signed the petition for President Chinchilla to ban the importation of shark fins. Photo: PRETOMA

Because today is World Oceans Day, we'd like to once again ask for your help, this time on our newest campaign to prohibit the importation of shark fins to Costa Rica.

http://www.pretoma.org/campaigns/say-no-to-shark-fin-import/

 Thanks to overwhelming support from the Costa Rican public and tens of thousands of people oversees, we've not only been able to create progressive legislation that stops shark finning (commonly referred to as finz-on legislation), but we've used necessary action to ensure that Costa Rica's national laws are upheld.

Not long ago, on December 1, we all celebrated the closing of the private docks to the foreign fishing fleet.  The operation of these illegal docks was tolerated by the National Fisheries Institute (Incopesca), Customs, and the Transportation Department (MOPT) since 1998 and had devastating affects on the region's shark populations.  The effect of the dock closure was immediately seen as the first Taiwanese vessel registered in Belize to arrive at the public dock in Puntarenas was caught landing 2000 kg of sharks without fins and fined $30,000.00 by the Judicial Court.  Sadly, this case exposes the reality that the foreign fleet has freely landed shark fins for over 10 years.

No longer able to use their private docks, the foreign fleet now circumvents the law by landing fins in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.  And it continues to laugh at our laws while it loads the fins into Costa Rican trucks and imports then back to this country via land.

We ask you to please share this information with your contacts and join the over 800 Costa Ricans who support this initiative.  Sign the petition so that Costa Rica stops importing shark fins once and for all!   

For more information:

Randall Arauz.

Pretoma.org

rarauz@pretoma.org

Tel (506) 2241 5227 - (506) 8344-3711

Pretoma is a Costa Rican Civil Association of Public Interest and is an active member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature IUCN and the World Society for the Protection of Animals WSPA.

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