Costa Rica has long been recognized as a country deeply devoted to environmental matters, and its recent stance on hammerhead shark fishing further cements this commitment. Aiming to fortify its already robust marine conservation measures, the Attorney General’s Office has recently endorsed a new initiative aimed squarely at the protection of hammerhead sharks.
Project Endorsement: Protecting Ocean Biodiversity
The latest project is essentially a modification to the existing Fisheries and Aquaculture Law. The core objective is to explicitly prohibit the hunting and capture of the hammerhead shark. This initiative resonates with the country’s ethos of protecting biodiversity, especially in its vast, life-rich oceans.
The Hammerhead Shark: A Species Under Threat
Diverse in its marine life, Costa Rica is home to three primary varieties of hammerhead sharks: the Sphyrna lewini, Sphyrna zygaena, and Sphyrna mokarran. Alarmingly, all three species are teetering on the brink of extinction.
International responsible fishing principles have set precedents that obligate countries to regularly refine legislation and policies, especially concerning hunting and fishing of endangered species. Since 2008, the hammerhead shark has featured on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a gravely endangered species.
Costa Rica’s Protective Measures: Past & Present
In 2018, Costa Rica took a proactive step by declaring the Golfo Dulce as a sanctuary specifically for hammerhead sharks. With this decree, actions like fishing, capture, transfer, and commercialization of hammerheads within the sanctuary became strictly prohibited.
This commitment was further solidified in February 2023, with an additional decree that broadened the protective scope. This recent mandate strictly forbids the capture, retention on board, transshipment, unloading, storage, and marketing of products derived from the three hammerhead species.
Then, in June of the same year, Costa Rica took the decisive step of officially declaring the hammerhead shark as endangered. The ruling mandated that organizations like Sinac, Incopesca, and the larger Government apparatus should work in tandem to ensure the complete eradication of hammerhead extraction from all national waters.
A Visionary Step Towards Conservation
With these measures in place, Costa Rica continues to be at the forefront of environmental conservation, setting an example for nations worldwide. As we witness the magnanimous efforts put forth by countries like Costa Rica, it serves as a beacon of hope for global environmentalists and marine conservationists alike.
