The Costa Rican National Coast Guard Service has seized in a period of four months, March through June, 103 illegal fishing artifacts such as drift nets and fish traps in waters of the Central Pacific.

The majority of the artifacts were found in the river mouths, specially Parrita (40%) and Savegre (25%) Rivers and surrounding areas, where it is illegal to place these types of instruments because they limit the transit of fish that enter the rivers to feed and reproduce, in addition, the traps placed in the beach interfere with the transit of the turtles that lay eggs in those places.

The Coast Guard Service contributes with the mission to preserve the biodiversity of the marine ecosystems and carry out constant patrolling in the area to prevent these illegal activities while also informing neighbors of the problems these represents for the turtles and other species. These initiatives are carried out by the Environmental Unit of the National Coast Guard Service.

“In addition to the environmental damages, these fishing artifacts can cause accidents for people swimming in the beach and people that travel in small boats that can have their propellers tangle in the nets that are left in the protected areas”, explains the press release.