There has been much debate in recent years concerning the policies relative to commercial fishing and sportfishing in Central America - and in particular detrimental effects of Costa Rica policy on Guatemala fishing and sportfishing for sailfish.
Learned and experienced anglers, experts and academics strongly assert that the commercial and sportfishing business in the region are at risk of continued substantial decline. Where Costa Rica used to be considered a premier destination in the region, and the sportfishing industry grew around it, not angler-tourists are migrating to other countries such as Guatemala to take advantage of the prolific fishing there. Citing data gathered over the last 10 years, from 2000 until recently, the average catch rate in National Tournaments has declined from a respectable eight fish to as little as one - in fact analyzing the data for perdiodic data shows that in recent years as many as sixty percent of fishing expeditions result in no pelagic fish at all- compared to thirty-seven percent 10 years ago. This has significant implications for the health of the tournament industry, as well as resulting in many "zero" days for visiting anglers that weakens the reputation of the Costa Rican waters for billfishing..
It is also widely suspected by the same expert gathering teams that commercial harvesting and by-catch of billfish are greatly under reported, making it even more difficult to rely on the data for a positive interpretation for the industry. The motivation is supported however by the continued growth in the export of billfish meat to the United States - with Costa Rica now being the fifth largest exporter. ** "Why do we care" you may ask...........that billfishing in Costa Rica just isn't what it used to be ?
In fact, you would think that their situation would benefit Guatemala as a Sportfishing destination. Unfortunately the billfish don't recognise territorial waters, and many of the fish that migrate through the rich waters off the Pacific coast of Guatemala also swim through the dangerous seas of Costa Rica.
While Guatemala has enforced a "no kill" law (note that it is LAW and not POLICY) - some of our sister countries have been less enlightened. Vested interests, lack of political will, economics all play into the arguement that has prevailed to continue to allow billfish to be killed and exported from Costa Rica - and it is hurting the stock. To their credit, sportfishing and INCOPESCA (Costa Rica Institute of Fishing and Aquaculture) have tried to improve the situation - but there remains :
- Billfish are still allowed to be exported from Costa Rica - Widened the tolerance for bycatch from eight percent to fifteen percent !! *** - Commercial longlining is allowed - 150,000,000 hooks are in the waters off Costa Rica ***
** Source : Interview with Tico Times August 2008 *** Source : INCOPESCA August 2008 As of March 10th 2009 the seven countries that have been working together in Central America to help conserve the sportfishing in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama among others have come together and signed an agreement to work together towards "sustainable fisheries management".
It has taken a year of discussions and meetings to get this far - but it is certainly a start.
They have built a constructive agenda with common points of interest - all aimed at building and acknowledging thevaue of the sportfishing industry in a year. We will continue to montior the developments, and certainly don't expect overnight results - pleased to observe consistent progress in the region !!
Even more recently, new rules coming out of the region and enacted by INCOPESCA, the Costa Rican fisheries agency, demand that all commercial fishing boats greater than 17 metres will have to carry electronics that enable them to be monitored while fishing or present in territorial waters.
This is a recent development, only finalized in August 2009, but with some sense of urgency, require all effected boats to have an operational system by early 2010. This system when up and running will allow the fisheries inspectors to more easily monitor the movements and position of all commercial longliners and the seine fleet - in particular it allows a feasible way to police the conservation areas or areas temporarily closed to commercial fishing. While this system is not required to be implemented fopr private vessels, or for smaller commercial interests, the authorities are encouraging its use as a way to safeguard the protected waters and interests of conservation areas such as the Coco Island National Park. The regulations taking effect Feb. 5, 2010, do not apply to private and charter sportfishing vessels. This is substantial progress towards sustainable sportfishing in the Pacific waters of Central America. http://www.fishing-guatemala.com
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