Thousands of Signatures Added to Stop Illegal Fishing in Costa Rica

August 19, 2019 by FECOP STAFF

San Jose, Costa Rica – What started as a march against Shrimp Trawling and other non sustainable fishing methods turned into an all out campaign to protect the Environment. FECOP (NGO – Costa Rica Sport Fishing Federation) was on hand with hundreds of volunteers and collected thousands of signatures aimed at curbing harmful, illegal fishing practices via FECOP’s petition to the Costa Rican government. From plastic and fossil fuel reduction, deforestation and sustainable fishing, thousands of people showed up to support a number of important causes. FECOP’s goal is to collect 125,000 signatures to push illegal tuna purse seiners (non-selective commercial fishing with the use of nets) and other illegal fishing practices out of Costa Rica’s coastal waters – this march gave FECOP a great push forward. Sustainable catch and release and other properly managed “Sport Fishing tourism” activities generate around $500 million per year directly and indirectly to Costa Rica’s National economy and is the “life-blood” of most coastal towns. Currently foreign (in most cases), illegal purse seine boats are generating thousands of tons of bycatch that include marine mammals and protected fish (mainly sailfish and marlin – collectively known as billfish) that are key to sport fishing tourism that is at the heart of those local economies. Sea turtles, dolphins and whales are other victims of these non-sustainable fishing methods. FECOP’s goal is to expand an existing tuna decree to push harmful fishing operation out of Costa Rica’s territorial waters and to reduce the amount of commercial licenses available. FECOP would like to thank all of those who turned out and signed our petition and offer you the chance to read and sign the complete petition to the Costa Rican governement here.

Some of FECOP’s Accomplishments Include

FECOP has made great strides in protecting Costa Rica’s marine ecosystems and the local economies that rely on the oceans valuable, limited resources. These are just a few FECOPS accomplishments to date.

Stopped the Exportation of Sailfish from Costa Rica
Created the Largest Marine Area of Responsible Fishing in Central America, The Golfo Dulce.
2014 Tuna Decree Project Moving Tuna Purse Seine Boats 60 Miles Off the Coast as well as Protecting a Total of Over 200,000 Square Miles of Territorial Water from Tuna Operations
Joined with Gray Fish-Tag Research in Tagging Operations and Scholarship Program for Costa Rica University Students to Conduct Research on Species of Sport Fishing Interest. We Will be Placing the First Tags in Roosterfish This Year.
Invested More Than $100,000 in a Training Program With Two Go Government Agencies to Explore and Teach Selective Types of Fishing for Tuna with no Billfish Bycatch.
2017 Reduced the marlin bycatch from 30 Metric Tons to Just Over 5 Metric Tons Annually.
Started coastal lure manufacturing jobs to offset workers displaced by reduction of shrimp trawling

More About FECOP and Costa Rica fishing tourism

More than 60,000 direct and indirect jobs, as well as a contribution of 500 million dollars to Costa Rica’s gross domestic product, are among the benefits obtained from this activity. In addition to this information recognized and produced by different sources, sport fishing has other less visible impacts and benefits. It represents a socioeconomic sector with a special dynamic that needs to be understood from a scientific and technical perspective so as to boost its growth and contribution to Costa Rican society.

FECOP assumes this challenge and will work with the sector in the generation of knowledge to benefit both the sport fishing and the fisheries sectors and Costa Rican society as a whole.

Explaining the Costa Ric Tuna Decree

The Tuna Decree Seems to be working

Costa Rica’s Tuna Decree is Saving Dolphins and Billfish

FECOP – Costa Rica Sport Fishing Tourism

Costa Rica Sport Fishing News and Features

Costa Rica Marlin Tagging Project