The leader of the organization Sea Shepherd, Paul Watson, could not remain quiet and attacked the government of Costa Rica; this time for its abstention to support the protection of silky gray sharks in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The government’s decision was made ahead of the CITES meeting taking place in South Africa from September 24th to October 5th.
It should be noted that Appendix II includes individuals who are not necessarily endangered, but to ensure the recovery of their populations, their trade must be controlled.
Why are we not surprised? Costa Rica remains the most corrupt nation in Latin America with regard to poaching. They support shark finning and turtle eggs poachers, that’s why they issued an arrest warrant against me in 2002,”
said Watson in its official Facebook page.
Watson lamented the situation and put back on the table the example of Jairo Sandoval Mora, turtle conservationist who was killed in May 2013 in Moín, Limón.
Some 30 tons of shark fins are sent from Costa Rica to China each year. Tens of thousands of turtle eggs are hunted annually, but the government sees wildlife advocates as criminals,”
explained the Canadian conservationist, who lives in Paris.
The foreigner, required by Costa Rican justice, was one of the hardest critics when Luis Guillermo Solís received the ‘Enemy of the Sharks’ award for apparently allowing two hammerhead shark fin exports and not complying with agreements established in CITES.
Paul Watson remains on the red list of Interpol because back in 2002 he and his team had problems with the crew of the fishing boat ‘Varadero 1’ in Guatemalan waters, during an alleged operation against illegal fishing.