Costa Rica's Tuna is Fished by Other Countries

90% of the tuna catch made in Costa Rican waters is unloaded in other countries, mainly Ecuador.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

So says the executive director of the Costa Rican Fisheries Federation (Fecop), Enrique Ramirez. Meanwhile, local fishermen are having a tough time due to declining marine resources.

Data has been obtained from the first "Analysis of the Tuna Fishery in the Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone of Costa Rica", which was developed with data from 2002 to 2011 by the American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).
The study reveals that in those years, international tuna fleets captured 253,000 metric tons of tuna in the 243,842 square kilometers of Exclusive Economic Zone of Costa Rica in the Pacific.

Taking part in this activity were 146 international vessels, mostly from Panama and Venezuela, nearly 1,512 trips, of which only 15% unloaded in Costa Rica.

According to Ramirez the Costa Rican fishing sector has exclusive fishing power in the 12 miles from the coast which corresponds to its territorial sea, but beyond this they must compete with the international fleet, with greater depth and technology.

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More on this topic

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