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]
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]
^"Shark Fin Soup". Thailand Life. 3 January 2011.
^Boddiger, David. "Shark Fin Mystery Deepens" (PDF). Pretoma. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
^ abBoddiger, David. "Sharks pay price and fin trade prospers" (PDF). Pretoma. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
^"Gordon Ramsay threatened at gunpoint during illegal fishing investigation".
and 30 Related for: Shark fin trading in Costa Rica information
SharkfintradinginCostaRica, or sharkfinning, is an illegal practice in the country. It poses a serious threat to shark populations besides the organized...
shark (Carcharhinus falciformis), also known by numerous names such as blackspot shark, gray whaler shark, olive shark, ridgeback shark, sickle shark...
Island to the mangroves in the tropical fjord of Golfo Dulce - a tropical fjord on the Pacific Coast of CostaRica. Here, female sharks give birth to live...
A shark sanctuary is an area that forbids commercial fishing operations from targeting and retaining caught sharks, including their fins. The first shark...
government of CostaRica has been openly accused of passivity and even benefiting corruptly from illegal sharkfin and other seafood trade to large markets...
energy". The CostaRica Star. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2018. Ercolani, Steve (19 October 2012). "Fighting sharkfinninginCostaRica". Al Jazeera...
CostaRica and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Stewart travels with Paul Watson and his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship as they confront shark...
Endangered or Critically Endangered by the IUCN. They are hunted for their fins (sharkfin soup), use of parts as traditional medicine, their teeth and saw. They...
policies to prevent sharkfinning Safeguards and conservation guidance for sharks through the Convention on International Tradein Endangered Species (CITES)...
of CostaRica. The charge stemmed from an altercation at sea in 2002 in which Sea Shepherd said that the other vessel was illegally sharkfinningin Guatemalan...
(young sharks) usually have dark spots on the upper two-thirds of the body. The first and second dorsal fins are of similar size and the caudal fin is asymmetric...
to CostaRicain 2020 where she supports the Government Environmental Agency SINAC in various campaigns protecting CostaRica's national parks. In January...
by CITES Appendix II List of species protected by CITES Appendix III Sharkfinning Wildlife conservation Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System Wildlife...
Cayman. A southern stingray in resting under a layer of sand inCostaRica. A southern stingray at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia. A southern...
fishing treaty organizations. Earth Island further banned sharkfinning on tuna vessels in the Dolphin Safe program, a measure which is also slowly being...
Yucatán), Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, CostaRica, Panama, Guatemala, and Venezuela. It has also been recorded from the...
operations have included interdiction against commercial fishing, shark poaching and finning, seal hunting and whaling. Many of their activities have been...
turtles in Tortuguero CostaRica, a turtle haven !". Tortuguero CostaRica Tours. Alden, John R. (25 October 1998). "Turtle Watch inCostaRica". The New...
Media Group produce the show, which is presented by PBS in the United States and by TVOKids in Canada. The show's aim is to educate children about biology...
It contains species and subspecies not only in the U.S. and its territories, but also those only found in other parts of the world. It does not include...
luxury goods in China remained strong but slowed, even falling slightly for luxury retailers in the 4th quarter of 2012, with sales of sharkfins and edible...
Strandings have been reported in the South and West of the Caribbean basin, inCostaRica (2006), Honduras (2011), Aruba, Curaçao and Colombia (2008). Insufficient...
ray-finned fish in the clade Ginglymodi of the infraclass Holostei /hoʊˈlɒstiaɪ/, being most closely related to the bowfins. It is the largest species in...
biggest ports in the world for importing sharkfins, sold at high prices in the restaurants and shops of Taiwan and China. They are brought in from overseas...
coast and the penalty for buying, selling, possessing, or transporting sharkfins. Greenpeace is another non-profit organization that seeks to campaign...
Island) in the East Pacific, 1,080 km (583 nmi) southwest of Mexico, 2,424 km (1,309 nmi) west of Nicaragua, 2,545 km (1,374 nmi) west of CostaRica and 2...
Global Information