The Costa Rican government has cracked down on poaching and poachers in Costa Rica in the past few years. Sea turtle eggs and shark fins have always been a hot commodity for poachers.
Everybody loves Leonardo DiCaprio movies and when movie stars speak people tend to take notice. Hopefully with celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio joining the fight against shark fin poaching we will see even less poaching and more awareness in the years to come.
Leonardo DiCaprio expressed his opinion on a controversial soup served in restaurants throughout New York. Legislation in the state, to ban the sale of shark fins, is currently pending. On Friday, June 1, the celebrity tweeted, “We did it in Cali. C’mon #NewYork! RT @Oceana. Time is running out for bill banning trade of #shark fins. Act now: http://act.oceana.org/letter/l-ny-shark/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharks&source=twitter “
Many of the shark fins found in North American restaurants are coming for Latin America.
In May of this year the Founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson, was arrested at Frankfurt airport for a 2002 incident involving Costa Rican shark fin poachers in Guatemalan waters. Watson is now being held in Germany for extradition to Costa Rica. Watson was arrested on May 13.
Exotic meat from Central and South America have become a delicacy for those ‘percenters’ that can afford it in America and Europe. With more awareness, international laws will become more stringent when it comes the poaching as well as against the restaurants caught serving illegal animal foods.