  Last week, the bill to authorize trawling was pre-approved, in the second round of voting in Congress, with 28 deputies in favor and 18 against. - A.M. Costa Rica illustrative photo - |
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 Published Tuesday, October 27, 2020 It
is unwise to reopen trawling
in Costa Rica, experts say By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Due to the pre-approval of bill No. 21478, Shrimp Trawling Fisheries Law, for the sustainable use of shrimp trawling in Costa Rica, which is being analyzed by the deputies in Congress, specialists from the School of Biology and the Research Center in Sciences of the Sea, of the University of Costa Rica, issued a statement in which they express their opposition to this mode of fishing. According to Daniel Briceño Lobo, director of the School of Biology of the University of Costa Rica and Ingo Wehrtmann, director of the Center for Research in Marine Sciences, there are no studies in Costa Rica showing the sustainability of trawling. The specialists listed their reasons for why trawling is not suitable. • Most of the fishery resources in Costa Rica are overexploited or have collapsed. • Trawling is not selective. This method of fishing not only extracts many organisms that will not be used, so-called accompanying fauna, which is discarded due to its little or no commercial value, but it is also impacting other development alternatives such as artisanal fishing, sport fishing and ecotourism. • The problem of trawling is not only a large number of accompanying fauna that will be of no use but also its impact on the seabed and the resuspension of sediments with pollutants. • The shrimp fishery in Costa Rica represents only about 4% of the total fishery on the Pacific Coast. • The extensive and unrestricted environmental damage and its impact on other productive sectors of the country, on which thousands of people depend, is not justified. • Today, most shrimp come from farming and not from trawling. Environmentally friendly mariculture should be strengthened as an alternative to trawling. The cultivation of snapper with technological packages developed by public universities in Costa Rica is an example of this. • There is no information on the quantity of shrimp available for trawling in the Pacific of Costa Rica. Opening a trawl fishery now could generate false expectations because of the possibility that the shrimp resource is rapidly depleting as an idea that cannot be ignored. • The latest study by the Costa Rican Fisheries Institute, Incopesca, in 2018, shows a considerable reduction in shrimp accompanying fauna. But it is a preliminary study and it is necessary to validate it in different places and different times. • Considering the current situation, especially the lack of solid information on the shrimp resource, it is not prudent to reopen trawling. Last week, the bill to authorize trawling was pre-approved, in the second round of voting in Congress, with 28 deputies in favor and 18 against. According to Congress, this new bill will reform the fishing law with the goal of "solving the social, economic and environmental problem generated in coastal areas by the suspension of this activity (referring to trawling) for more than five years." The project proposes that licenses for the sustainable use of shrimp for commercial purposes are granted only to national vessels as well as to Costa Rican fishermen. The law would establish that shrimp fisheries with trawl nets must-have devices that exclude fish and turtles, as well as technical and scientific regulations for the significant decrease in the capture of accompanying fauna for the reduction of environmental impacts on the marine ecosystem. Specific regulations will be established by the Fishery Institute, but the law request to national vessels must have a satellite system installed for fishing only in legally-established zones. The new law would also prohibit shrimp fishing with trawls in estuaries, river mouths, reefs, national parks, as well as in any other area established by the institute. Deputy Zoila Volio Pacheco, who initially opposed the bill said that she changed her mind in the face of the crisis that the pandemic has affected some areas more than others. According to Congressman Nielsen Pérez, who voted against the bill, about 1,500 people are artisanal fishers while only about 600 are practicing trawling. -------------------- Are you for or against trawling? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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