Shark fin trading in Costa Rica

Last updated
Confiscated shark fins Shark fins.jpg
Confiscated shark fins

Shark fin trading in Costa Rica, or shark finning, is an illegal practice in the country. It poses a serious threat to shark populations besides the organized crime involvement in the practice within Costa Rica. The trade in Costa Rica is vigorously controlled by the Taiwanese mafia because of the high value of shark fins in restaurants in the Pacific Rim countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and China where Shark fin soup can cost up to $100 a serving in top restaurants. [1] Some 95% of shark fin trading activity in Costa Rica culminates in the docks of Puntarenas on the western coast, notably Inversiones Cruz Dock and Harezan Dock, [2] which are often privately run by the Taiwanese. [3] The industry in Costa Rica took off from the 1970s as a result of the growth in demand from the emerging wealthy Tiger economies of the Asia-Pacific for shark fin as a delicacy. By the 1990s, the shark fin industry in Costa Rica had become one of the world's most important in shark finning, especially as a major cargo-unloading point for international fleets because of tax laws and government corruption in cracking down on the trade. [3]

Contents

However, there is environmental awareness of the consequences of fin trade exploitation which could result in shark extinction. Prompted by WildAid’s campaigns, in East Asia, high profile politicians and their kin, film personalities, industrial establishments and committed individuals took voluntary “No shark fin” pledge. In January 2011, British chef Gordon Ramsay spoke of how he and his TV crew were held at gunpoint and soaked with petrol when filming a documentary about the illegal trade in Costa Rica. [4]

Practice

In response to poor incomes and pressure, local fisherman are forced into harvesting shark fins, despite only getting about one dollar per pound on an average, less than a third of its total retail value. [5] Corrupt politicians are silenced with a fee to ignore government regulations. [6] The practice involves sharks being caught by a horizontal drag line with many baited hooks, known as longline fishing. According to biologist Jorge Ballestero of the Costa Rican Sea Turtle Restoration Project (Pretoma), “Costa Rica has become intricately linked to this trade for two reasons: It has the biggest longliner fleet in the hemisphere, and it allows international vessels dedicated to the exploitation and trade of shark fins to land here.” [3]

The Taiwanese mafia dominate the shark finning industry in Costa Rica, although Indonesian gangs also have a foothold in the market. [3] The Taiwanese and Indonesian mafia operate private docks in the Puntarenas area, notably Inversiones Cruz Dock and Harezan Dock and several others where some 95% of all catches are brought in, transported by truck to San José and flown mostly to Hong Kong. [3] According to the Costa Rican customs adviser Omar Jiminez, at least three boats full of shark fins enter the ports in Puntarenas every week. [7] Kaohsiung in Taiwan is one of the biggest ports in the world for importing shark fins. They are brought in from overseas and are placed out to dry in the sun on residential rooftops near the port.

However, various shark cartilage industries in the country exist, depending on the import of cartilages from other countries. [8] [9] Costa Rica is mentioned as one such country where a leading processing plant is said to be purchasing raw cartilages from any source in the world to carry out semi or primary processing before exporting it, particularly to the USA. [9] The USA then markets it worldwide in the processed shark cartilage powder form, under four or five brand names. [9]

History

In the 1970s, mass local and reef fishing off the Central America coasts had a profound effect on coastal shark populations throughout the Americas. FAO initiated action in 1999 to introduce a “Voluntary Plan of Action for sharks.”

In 1982, the National Learning Institute of Costa Rica received technical support and financing from the Taiwanese government to modernize its fishing fleet according to Pretoma. [3] This had a major impact on the finning industry in Costa Rica, which subsequently took off in the 1980s (especially after 1986 [8] ). Due to low shark populations on the coasts, the updated vessels could now venture further out to sea and use longline technology to greatly increase their catches. Meeting the increasing demand in the Tiger economies of the Pacific Rim countries for shark fins brought about their economic growth and increased wealth in the 1980s and 1990s. By the late 1990s, Costa Rica had become established as a major cargo-unloading point for international fleets and thus became a key component in the global finning industry. [3]

In May 2003, a young Costa Rican Coast Guard official, Manuel Silva, reported the landing of a Taiwanese fishing vessel with 30 tons of shark fins on board. Not only were the Taiwanese vessels ignored by the four agencies charged with checking incoming cargos but the Costa Rican Fishing Institute (Incopesca) also failed to take action following his report. [3]

In 2006/2007, Canadian director Rob Stewart went to Costa Rica and the Galapagos to shoot what he thought would be an innocent documentary after sharklife underwater in the film Sharkwater . However, shortly into filming, they stumbled across the Taiwanese mafia, the illegal shark fin trade and, feared for their lives when chased by gunboats. [10] They managed to secretly capture footage of the traders in the film.

Today, Costa Rica is one of the world's most important participants in the shark-fin trade. Shark finning in Costa Rica was made illegal in 2012, signed into law by President Chinchilla. There is still a viable illegal market present. [3]

Demand

Yokohama Chinese Medicine Shark fin etc.jpg
Chinese cuisine-Shark fin soup-01.jpg
Left: Shark fin in a Japanese health store. Right: Shark fin soup

In Hong Kong restaurants, where the market has traditionally been strong, Shark fin soup can fetch up to $100 a serving in the top restaurants. However, the demand from Hong Kong natives has reportedly dropped, but this has been more than balanced by an increase in demand from the Chinese mainland, fueled by its growing economy and increased wealth, [11] as the economic growth of China has put this expensive delicacy within the reach of a growing middle class. [12] [13] This increase in demand, combined with the importance of this top predator in the ocean, has the potential to significantly alter oceanic ecosystems. [14] The high price of the soup means that it is often used as a way to impress guests or at celebrations. [11] Shark fin is also incorrectly perceived by some as having high nutritional value, as well as cancer and osteoarthritis fighting abilities. [15] [16] Based on information gathered from the Hong Kong trade in fins, the market is estimated to be growing by 5% a year. [17] In 1998, China imported a reported 4,240 tonnes of shark fins worth US$24.7 million, but Costa Rica competed with Japan, Spain, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Norway, Ecuador, Peru and Fiji in providing for the Chinese market. [18] In China, shark fins are increasingly being used in less extravagant items such as cakes, cookies, bread and even cat food. [3]

In the South Asian region, use of shark cartilage in preparing soups is considered a health tonic. Hong Kong imports it from North and South American countries, particularly for use in either a cooked format or to prepare boiled soup, as a health fad, by mixing it with herbal supplements. [18]

Another large demand for shark cartilage is for manufacture of "Shark Cartilage Powder" or pills as a cure for cancer. The anti cancer claims of such powders marketed in many parts of the world has been discounted by the US Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commissions. In spite of such injunctions, the trade in this powder continues and the shark cartilage powder is still widely marketed as a cancer cure, stated to be selling at US$145 per gram. [19] It is also stated that in Costa Rica, one single firm alone processed 235,000 sharks every month to manufacture cartilage pills. [19]

Environmental concerns

Hammerhead shark off Cocos Island, Costa Rica where illegal shark activities are difficult to deter because of limited manpower. Hammerhead shark, Cocos Island, Costa Rica.jpg
Hammerhead shark off Cocos Island, Costa Rica where illegal shark activities are difficult to deter because of limited manpower.

Since the late 1980s populations of northwest Atlantic coastal and oceanic shark have dropped by an average of 70%, and in 2003 the World Conservation Union (IUCN) estimated that tens of millions of sharks are finned and discarded at sea every year. [3] However, estimates are muddy given the fact that the sharks and their fins cross-cut different fishing markets (not to mention that the vast majority of sharks are exploited in the Pacific coast of Costa Rica as opposed to the Atlantic coast). [3] The major environmental problem facing Costa Rican waters by mass shark finning is that the fishermen involved in the practice of killing sharks for their fins pay no attention to the age, gender, size, or even the species of shark. Young sharks may be killed off, drastically affecting the ability to breed. [3] A further biological complication is that sharks are naturally slow to breed and mature, which makes the possibility of extinction for many shark species in Costa Rican waters increasingly ominous. [3]

As far back as 1999, FAO initiated action to introduce a “Voluntary Plan of Action for sharks.” The response, though not spontaneous, received support from 15 countries including Costa Rica. Even in the early 2000s, the fin trade market's influence on over exploitation of fins was realized, with many countries imposing ban on fishing of these species. Goaded by WildAid's campaigns in East Asia, high-profile politicians and their kin, film personalities, industrial establishments and committed individuals took voluntary “No shark fin” pledge and many personalities hosted banquets with “shark free” announcements. There is now constant publicity in the media in this regard in eastern Asia. [21]

Crackdown

Chen Shui-Bian, together with Abel Pacheco, launched a crackdown on shark finning, with little success. Chen shui bian.jpg
Chen Shui-Bian, together with Abel Pacheco, launched a crackdown on shark finning, with little success.

Former Costa Rican president Abel Pacheco, a noted environmentalist, and his Taiwanese counterpart, Chen Shui-Bian began a crackdown on shark finning in the early 2000s. However, enforcement is nearly impossible because of corrupt politicians and the terror created by the Taiwanese mafia preventing officials from making a stand against the trading. [3] A reform bill has been proposed in Congress since the late 1990s in which a law would be passed entailing a prison term of up to two years for any perpetrator involved in the trafficking of fins that have been cut from sharks’ bodies before the catch has reached the dock. In this context, Pretoma has obtained a petition of over 20,000 signatures calling for the suspension of landing permits for foreign fishing vessels. Although the opposition to the trading is high and indeed illegal, effectively cracking down on the industry will be difficult as long as law enforcement and monitoring of fishing vessels is slack and corruption and poverty remain. The Taiwanese and Indonesian mafia even run their own private docks in Puntarenas which are known to the government and the Costa Rican police but incoming vessels are rarely inspected in a climate of fear. [3] The port of Puntarenas, as of 2003, only had three inspectors allocated to the inspection of hundreds of vessels and generally only examines about 20% of them. [3] As of 2003, no full-scale government investigation has been instituted into the port of Puntarenas, widely known to be the linch-pin of the illegal Costa Rican shark fin trading industry. [3] In 2007, Costa Rica was again internationally criticized for its handling of sharkfinning. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cantonese cuisine</span> Chinese regional cuisine from Guangdong

Cantonese or Guangdong cuisine, also known as Yue cuisine, is the cuisine of Guangdong province of China, particularly the provincial capital Guangzhou, and the surrounding regions in the Pearl River Delta including Hong Kong and Macau. Strictly speaking, Cantonese cuisine is the cuisine of Guangzhou or of Cantonese speakers, but it often includes the cooking styles of all the speakers of Yue Chinese languages in Guangdong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shark</span> Infraclass of predatory cartilaginous fish

Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorpha and are the sister group to the Batoidea. Some sources extend the term "shark" as an informal category including extinct members of Chondrichthyes with a shark-like morphology, such as hybodonts. Shark-like chondrichthyans such as Cladoselache and Doliodus first appeared in the Devonian Period, though some fossilized chondrichthyan-like scales are as old as the Late Ordovician. The oldest confirmed modern sharks (selachimorphs) are known from the Early Jurassic, about 200 million years ago, though records of true sharks may extend back as far as the Permian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cocos Island</span> Island designated as a National Park off the shore of Costa Rica

Cocos Island is an island in the Pacific Ocean administered by Costa Rica, approximately 550 km southwest of the Costa Rican mainland. It constitutes the 11th of the 15 districts of Puntarenas Canton of the Province of Puntarenas. With an area of approximately 23.85 km2 (9.21 sq mi), the island is more or less rectangular in shape. It is the southernmost point of geopolitical North America if non-continental islands are included, and the only landmass above water on the Cocos tectonic plate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shark fin soup</span> Soup in Chinese cuisine

Shark fin soup is a soup or stewed dish served in parts of China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. The shark fins provide texture, while the taste comes from the other soup ingredients. It is commonly served at special occasions such as weddings and banquets, or as a luxury item.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puntarenas</span> City in Costa Rica

Puntarenas is a city in the Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which comprises the Puntarenas, Chacarita and El Roble districts. As the city of the first canton of the province, it is the capital city of the Puntarenas Province as well, according to the Administrative divisions of Costa Rica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shark cartilage</span> Pseudoscientific diet supplement

Shark cartilage is a dietary supplement made from the dried and powdered cartilage of a shark; that is, from the tough material that composes a shark's skeleton. Shark cartilage is marketed under a variety of brand names, including Carticin, Cartilade, or BeneFin, and is marketed explicitly or implicitly as a treatment or preventive for various illnesses, including cancer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chira Island</span> Island and district in Puntarenas canton, Puntarenas province, Costa Rica

Chira Island is a 4,300-hectare (11,000-acre) Costa Rican Pacific island located at the upper end of the Gulf of Nicoya, belonging to the Puntarenas canton, in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shark finning</span> Harvesting of fins from live sharks

Shark finning is the act of removing fins from sharks and discarding the rest of the shark back into the ocean. This act is prohibited in many countries. The sharks are often still alive when discarded, but without their fins. Unable to swim effectively, they sink to the bottom of the ocean and die of suffocation or are eaten by other predators. Shark finning at sea enables fishing vessels to increase profitability and increase the number of sharks harvested, as they must only store and transport the fins, by far the most profitable part of the shark; the shark meat is bulky to transport. Many countries have banned this practice and require the whole shark to be brought back to port before removing the fins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indomie</span> Indonesian instant noodle brand

Indomie is a brand of instant noodle produced by the Indonesian company Indofood. Indofood itself is the largest instant noodle producer in the world with 16 factories. Over 28 billion packets of Indomie are produced annually, and the brand is also exported to more than 90 countries around the world. Indomie has been produced mainly in Indonesia since it was first introduced in June 1972; it has also been produced in Nigeria since 1995. Indomie has become increasingly popular in Nigeria and other African countries since its introduction there in the 1980s.

<i>Sharkwater</i> 2006 Canadian documentary film on overexploitation of sharks

Sharkwater is a 2006 Canadian documentary film written and directed by Rob Stewart. Helping to protect sharks, changing government policy, and inspiring the creation of shark conservation groups, Sharkwater is considered one of conservation's success stories, resulting in shark finning being banned in over 90 countries. In the film, Stewart documents current attitudes about sharks, and how shark-hunting industries are driving them to extinction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José María Cañas</span>

José María Cañas Escamilla was a Salvadoran military figure. He was born in Suchitoto, El Salvador.

The Shark Alliance was a global not-for-profit coalition founded in 2006 by Pew Charitable Trusts of non-governmental organizations dedicated to restoring and conserving shark populations by improving shark conservation policies.

Chinese people have been immigrating to Costa Rica since the mid-nineteenth century. They come from The People's Republic of China, and from Taiwan. They form one of the main Chinese communities in America; with around 9,000 citizens living in the country in the Caribbean Basin the size is only surpassed by that of Panama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shark Conservation Act</span>

The Shark Conservation Act of 2009 (SCA) was passed by the 111th United States Congress that amended the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to improve the conservation of sharks. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives on March 2, 2009 by voice vote. It was taken up by the Senate and amended to incorporate further changes to Magnuson-Stevens, known as the International Fisheries Agreement Clarification Act. The Senate passed the amended bill as the Shark Conservation Act of 2010 on December 20, 2010 by unanimous consent, and the next day the House accepted the amendment, again by voice vote. The bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 4, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shark sanctuary</span>

A shark sanctuary is an area that forbids commercial fishing operations from targeting and retaining caught sharks, including their fins. The first shark sanctuary was created by Palau in 2009. It was followed by Maldives, Honduras, The Bahamas and Tokelau.

<i>United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins</i> Court appeal concerning shark finning

United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins is a 2008 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concerning civil forfeiture in admiralty law. Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote for a three-judge panel that ordered that the shark fins be returned to their owners, reversing a decision by the Southern District of California. The government did not appeal the case further.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shark Finning Prohibition Act</span>

The Shark Finning Prohibition Act was signed into law by Bill Clinton on December 21, 2000. It had forbidden finning by any vessels in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, and possession of fins by any U.S.-flagged fishing vessels on international waters. It also prohibited any fishing vessel from landing at a U.S. port with shark fins whose weight exceeds 5% of the total weight of shark carcasses landed or on board. These provisions left loopholes that would successfully be exploited in its first court test.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triad (organized crime)</span> Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate

A triad is a Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate based in Greater China with outposts in various countries having significant overseas Chinese populations.

The gill plate trade is the buying and selling of stingray gill plates for their use in traditional Chinese medicine. The gill plates are harvested from stingrays that are caught intentionally, or caught as bycatch. The plates are sold whole or in a powder form. A single kilogram of the gill plate can be sold for up to US$350, though the price varies by ray species.

The fishing industry in Thailand, in accordance with usage by The World Bank, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other multinational bodies, refers to and encompasses recreational fishing, aquaculture, and wild fisheries both onshore and offshore.

References

  1. ↑ "Shark Fin Soup". Thailand Life. 3 January 2011.
  2. ↑ Boddiger, David. "Shark Fin Mystery Deepens" (PDF). Pretoma. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Boddiger, David. "Sharks pay price and fin trade prospers" (PDF). Pretoma. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  4. ↑ "Gordon Ramsay threatened at gunpoint during illegal fishing investigation".
  5. ↑ Stewart, Rob (2006), Sharkwater
  6. ↑ "A Sunday at Sea with Sea Shepherd and the Shark Killers". Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. 6 August 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  7. ↑ Institute for Central American Studies (1 January 2004). Mesoamerica. Institute for Central American Studies. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  8. 1 2 Fowler, Sarah L.; Reed, Tim M.; Dipper, Frances (30 June 2002). Elasmobranch biodiversity, conservation and management: proceedings of the international seminar and workshop, Sabah, Malaysia, July 1997. IUCN. p. 23. ISBN   978-2-8317-0650-4 . Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 Rose, Debra A.; International Traffic Network (January 1996). An overview of world trade in sharks and other cartilaginous fishes. TRAFFIC International. pp. 95, 85. ISBN   978-1-85850-114-7 . Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  10. ↑ "Interview with Rob Stewart on his film Sharkwater about the shark problem in Costa Rica". George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. 26 January 2009.
  11. 1 2 "Yao Ming unlikely to curb China's shark fin appetite". Taipei Times. 3 May 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  12. ↑ "Media silent on shark fin soup affair". The Standard. 1 September 2006. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  13. ↑ Bradsher, Keith (17 June 2005). "Disneyland in China Offers a Soup and Lands in a Stew". The New York Times . Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  14. ↑ Bakalar, Nicholas (12 October 2006). "38 Million Sharks Killed for Fins Annually, Experts Estimate". National Geographic. Archived from the original on November 5, 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  15. ↑ "Alternative approaches to prostate cancer treatment". Prostate Cancer Treatment. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  16. ↑ Pollack, Andrew (3 June 2007). "Shark Cartilage, Not a Cancer Therapy". New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  17. ↑ Chao, Julie (19 May 2004). "Chinese Taste For Endangered Seafood Growing". Cox News Service. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  18. 1 2 Vannuccini, Stefania; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (1999). Shark utilization, marketing and trade. Food & Agriculture Org. p. 111. ISBN   978-92-5-104361-5 . Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  19. 1 2 Helfman, Gene S. (4 May 2009). The diversity of fishes: biology, evolution, and ecology. John Wiley and Sons. p. 226. ISBN   978-1-4051-2494-2 . Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  20. ↑ Creedman, Theodore S. (1991). Historical dictionary of Costa Rica. Scarecrow Press. pp. 64–. ISBN   978-0-8108-2215-3 . Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  21. ↑ Stallwood, Kim W. (June 2002). A primer on animal rights: leading experts write about animal cruelty and exploitation. Lantern Books. p. 62. ISBN   978-1-59056-003-7 . Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  22. ↑ Institute for Central American Studies (Costa Rica) (2007). Mesoamerica. Institute for Central American Studies. p. 25. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.