The Costa Rica News (TCRN) – Since Sunday a new regulation went into effect that came from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), held in June last year. Under the agreement, five types of sharks and stingrays will be restricted for international trade.
“Inclusion in Appendix II does not prohibit international trade in a species, but rather to control it to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival,” said the Pretoma organization.
The three species of sharks included are the common hammerhead, smooth hammerhead and the giant hammerhead, which were provided at the request of Costa Rica, Brazil and Honduras.
“The oceanic whitetip shark, who has high value in international trade in shark fins and was once abundant in Costa Rica, is increasingly scarce, and international trade is already prohibited by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). The manta ray is common in Costa Rican waters, and although it is not recognized as a target species, the reality is that an export market does exist,” said the organization.
By convention, the law “only allows international trade in species in Appendix II under the protection of a CITES Export Permit issued by the CITES Management Authority of the exporting country.”
Randall Arauz of Pretoma explained, “The international fin trade for hammerheads and oceanic white tip is one of the main threats to the survival of these species.”
The Costa Rica News (TCRN)
San Jose, Costa Rica
