Illegal Fishermen 4, Enforcement 0
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Illegal fishing is a problem pretty much everywhere that regulations meet fish. As I noted in September, the United States government puts the global cost of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing at up to $23 billion in lost income for legal fishermen and coastal communities. And that’s before the larger environmental costs are considered.
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In the Latin American instance, Pretoma, a small nongovernmental organization based in Costa Rica, said that the Costa Rican authorities had dropped cases against two shrimp boats that had been caught trawling illegally inside the Caletas-Ario National Wildlife Refuge in 2009.
Although both incidents were documented with photographs, video, GPS positioning evidence and testimony from three witnesses, Pretoma said, the Costa Rican Fisheries Office dismissed the cases. Officials cited “reasonable doubts regarding the calibration and preciseness of the instruments” used to support claims they were operating illegally within the refuge.
Randall Arauz, Pretoma’s founder, said that shrimp trawlers’ regularly violate Costa Rican regulations “because the authorities fail to enforce the law.”
Costa Rica’s president, Laura Chinchilla, has appointed a commission to examine the fisheries authority’s decisions, raising the prospect that policies could be tightened.
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Illegal Fishermen 4, Enforcement 0 (ingles solo)
(Traducción de algunos párrafos de la noticia)
Pescadores ilegales 4, Responsables del cumplimiento de la legislación 0
Donde quiera que hay peces hay problemas con las regulaciones y la pesca ilegal. El Gobierno de Estados Unidos estima que el costo global por pérdidas en ingresos de pescadores legales y comunidades costeras debido a la pesca ilegal, no reportada y no regulada se eleva hasta los 23 billones de dólares.
La entidad Latino Americana, Pretoma, un pequeña organización no gubernamental con base en Costa Rica, dijo que las autoridades costarricenses han archivado casos contra dos barcos camaroneros que habían sido sorprendidos arrastrando ilegalmente dentro del Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Caletas Ario en el 2009.
Aunque los dos incidentes están documentados con fotografias, videos, evidencia de posiciones GPS y tres testigos, Pretoma dijo que el Instituto Costarricense de Pesca y Acuicultura desestimó los casos.
Randall Arauz, fundador de Pretoma dijo que “los camaroneros de arrastre violan regularmente la regulaciones de Costa Rica porque las autoridades fallan al aplicar la legislación.”
La Presidenta de Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, ha asignado un comisión para examinar las decisiones de las autoridades pesqueras, levantando la esperanza de que las políticas puedan ser endurecidas.