Courtesy of Geiner Golfín
Eight sharks were killed and six were rescued alive on Tuesday after an action of illegal fishing to exploit natural resources from Isla del Coco.
Steel reefs and hammerhead sharks were among the dead animals. According to the staff of Isla del Coco National Park, they found hooks and a fishing lines that extended for several nautical miles.
We did not expect it. We went out to do cetacean monitoring on the north side of the island. At 10 miles, we saw a boat, which we try to follow to intercept. We did it at couple of miles later, but on the way we detected the gear,”
said Geiner Golfín, coordinator of the seamounts of the island.
When addressing the suspect vessel of Costa Rican flag, the captain told officials he was unaware of the fishing line, so it was impossible to link him to the facts, despite suspicions.
The line was 5 miles long. The fishing was directed to tuna, but we found silky shark and hammerhead shark. We had the opportunity to tag one living creature. We were disgusted by this, because the hammerhead shark is emblematic on the island,”
said Golfín.
On the site, there were 2 radio buoys, which allow to locate the fishing gear from the mother boat.
We were able to determine the sex of the dead sharks and take their biological measures as part of a monitoring plan. It is not the best way to get information, but this will allow us to take an assessment of environmental damage,”
said the official.
Isla del Coco is one of the oasis of biodiversity in the Pacific, making it also one the most desired places by illegal fishermen.