Guanacaste fishermen stressed their opposition to a bill that would restore trawling in Costa Rica.
Representatives of fishing communities of Guanacaste, the Pacific coast and the Gulf of Nicoya rejected the bill 19.383 for sustainable harvesting of shrimp, job creation and combating poverty.
Fishermen met during the weekend with the five congressmen who make up the Guanascate affairs commission in the Legislative Assembly.
According to Martin Contreras, a spokesman for the fishermen, the trawling meshes have very narrow holes and capture not fully matured species, unlike the meshes of artisanal fishing that allow growing fish to escape .
Opponents to the proposed law said the government of president Luis Guillermo Solis has not proven that semi-industrial fishing shrimp trawl is sustainable.
Congressman Juan Marin, from Partido de Liberación Naciotnal, reported the bill will now go pass to the commission of Environment. He added that opposition to the bill would continue until the proponents present a study proving that trawling is a sustainable technique.
Source: CRhoy.com.