The Costa Rican Fisheries Federation (FECOP) will conduct a study on the impact of sport fishing on the national economy. The organization wants details on how this activity contributes to the development of coastal communities and the tourism sector. It will contemplate an economic and social analysis.
According to Henry Marín, a sociologist and project coordinator of FECOP, the study is important to generate more information on the use and status of fishing resources. Costa Rica has been deficient in the management of the fishing resource, which belongs to all citizens.
It will also help to understand how the sport fishing sector maintains links with other actors and define the accounting for these relationships in the value chain and livelihoods of the directly related actors.
The study will be focused on eight communities: Golfito and Puerto Jiménez (Southern Zone); Quepos, Jacó, and Herradura (Central Pacific); Tamarindo, Flamingo, and Playas del Coco (North Pacific). The local studies will be included later in the national study. Both studies will be carried out in parallel at the time of data collection.
Costa Rica is listed as one of the best destinations for the practice of sport fishing for its privileged oceanographic conditions. Throughout the year, different species are seen in various areas of the Pacific and the Atlantic.
According to FECOP, there is a record of activity in the country for 70 years. Starting in the 1990s, it began to be a source of tourist development. Sport fishing takes place along the Costa coastal areas, attracting tourists, who in turn bring their families or their own boats. These dynamics generate income and favor captains, sailors, bait fishermen, mechanics and tourism service providers, among others.