US To Protect Sea Turtles By Banning Costa Rica Shrimp Imports
By Matt J. Weiss, May 8, 2009 @ 01:00 AM (EST)
Source: Insidecostarica.com
The US Department of State's Bureau of
Oceans, Environment, and Science imposed a
trade embargo on all Costa Rican shrimp
exports to the US, effective as of May 1.
The embargo is due to Costa Rica’s failure
to enforce its laws that require commercial
shrimp fishers to protect sea turtles from
capture and death in trawl nets by using
Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs).
According to a report issued by the State Department, the decision to embargo Costa Rica was the result of a multi-year investigation that involved certification visits and data compiled from credible third-party sources. The evidence points out how Costa Rica’s Fishery Institute (Incopesca), didn’t “provide sanctions for TED violations that served as an effective deterrent against the failure to use TEDs”.
“Incopesca has been extremely negligent”, denounced Andy Bystrom of Pretoma, a Costa Rican NGO that has worked on TED issues since 1997. “In meetings with the State Department in December 2008, Incopesca was warned that Costa Rica`s shrimp could be embargoed, to which the officers responded that they would resolve the problem in early 2009, but they haven’t done a thing”.
According to a report issued by the State Department, the decision to embargo Costa Rica was the result of a multi-year investigation that involved certification visits and data compiled from credible third-party sources. The evidence points out how Costa Rica’s Fishery Institute (Incopesca), didn’t “provide sanctions for TED violations that served as an effective deterrent against the failure to use TEDs”.
“Incopesca has been extremely negligent”, denounced Andy Bystrom of Pretoma, a Costa Rican NGO that has worked on TED issues since 1997. “In meetings with the State Department in December 2008, Incopesca was warned that Costa Rica`s shrimp could be embargoed, to which the officers responded that they would resolve the problem in early 2009, but they haven’t done a thing”.
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