 About thirty international non-governmental organizations expressed support for an initiative that aims to Costa Rica include the hammerhead shark in the list of species whose trade is regulated to protect their populations, environmental sources said today. These organizations are working so the country maintains the best wild life, so, visitors can enjoy unique travel vacations.
"The organizations believe that the measure would improve the control over international trade in products and byproducts of this species, endangered species listed by the World Conservation Union (IUCN)", said in a statement environmental group Sea Turtle Restoration Program (Pretoma).
The 28 NGOs are from Germany, USA, Belgium, Mexico, Switzerland, Canada, Taiwan, Republic of the Congo, UAE and Costa Rica.
The Government of Costa Rica promotes the inclusion of a hammerhead shark on Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), a proposal presented at the next meeting of the body, scheduled for October in Switzerland.
The idea of Costa Rica is that the entry of this shark on Appendix III of CITES, the species is considered to be protected and that the country with support of the convention to control international trade; there are several group tours that also give a battle against the unprotected wildlife in the country.
If approved the initiative, export and sale of hammerhead sharks in Costa Rica would be subject to regulations such as issuing permits and science-based PDO.
Pretoma activist Randall Arauz said in the newsletter that if the hammerhead shark enters this list will help Costa Rica to "consolidate its marine conservation policy and strengthen its leadership in other regional processes."
However, he called on the authorities to continue fighting to force the practice of "finning" of sharks, which involves the removal of fins of the animal and throw the rest of the body at sea to save space in the holds.
Shark fins are highly prized especially in Asian countries, where they were bought at high prices for their curative properties.
Some protected species in Costa Rica by Appendix III of CITES are the badger, the bushy, armadillo, two-toed sloth and some squirrels; however, if you include the hammerhead shark, this would be the first fish to enter this list. |
