Personnel of the National System of Areas of Conservation (SINAC) found two silky sharks and 30 fish tangled in an illegal fishing device 5 nautical miles from Isla del Coco.

The device, known as fishing aggregating device (FAD), is used to aggregate fish and captures them in large quantities; it is believed it had been in areas close to the Isla del Coco National Park for months.

“This type of illegal device is used in fishing to attract and gather fish that because of their behavior already tend to form groups under floating objects in the ocean. It has been proved that FADs gather the fauna in the area and therefore facilitates fishing, since it aggregates different fish species at different depths. Species such as mahi-mahi, sharks and others are attracted to FADs”, explained Geiner Golfin, marine biologist and park ranger of SINAC.

“By taking the device out of the water we protect the marine life in the park, although, unfortunately in this case 2 sharks and several fish were caught in it”, explained Golfin.

According to Keilor Morales, park ranger of SINAC, the device was of 2 meters x by 2 meters, built with bamboo, Styrofoam, plastic and a very large net.

Illegal fishing, climate change and the destruction of habitats have caused 25% of sharks and rays to be in danger of disappearing.

In Costa Rica there are scientific reports of 99 shark, rays and chimaeras species.