Costa Rica’s Ministry of Environment (MINAE) and the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) formally filed the legal complaint for the confiscation of sharks that was done in March 20 by the park rangers of the Isla del Coco National Park to the ship Jose Pablo II, plates PW-4893 which was found fishing in protected areas.

During the inspection, authorities seized 58 dead sharks located in the boats’ deck and 38 more inside the vessel, 35 of them already dead and 3 alive. The sharks found were of different species: hammerhead, silky, bigeye thresher and Galapagos. They also carried a reserve with live bait, a total of 314 species of fish which were set free by the park rangers.

This is the biggest seizure done since 2007 in the Isla del Coco National Park (Coco’s Island National Park) where large congregations of pelagic species stand out (pelagic species are those that live neither close to the bottom nor near the shore), such as sharks and tuna. The richness of these species near Coco’s Island attracts commercial boats that enter the protected waters illegally.

SINAC-MINAE are doing efforts to control the illegal fishing in this National Park and taking the responsible parties to face the corresponding authorities.

“Thanks to the job done by the park rangers in the Isla del Coco National Park, we were able to capture this vessel in protected waters, we recognize their efforts and commitment. It is a shame that we have people that do not respect the environmental laws and enter the national parks to try to plunder resources and species of high ecological value. The Government has been trying to strengthen our systems, with the use of better technology, infrastructure, and training our human resources to better our work of control and surveillance. We have supplied a radar for the park rangers and the coast guard to be used in the Island”, commented Fernando Mora, Vice-minister of Waters, Seas, Coasts and Wetlands.

Helicopter Ride Over Cocos Island, Costa Rica from Undersea Hunter on Vimeo.