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New Marine Area
For Responsible Fishing Created in Gulf of
Nicoya
Goodbye/Hello
Costa Rica: Blagojevich Out, Baldwin In
New Marine
Area For Responsible Fishing Created in Gulf
of Nicoya
(InfoWebPress) – With the goal of ensuring a
sustainable use of marine resources in the
long term, the executive president of the
Costa Rican Fishing and Aquaculture
Institute (INCOPESCA), Luis Dobles Ramirez,
recently visited the community of Palito in
Chira Island (Gulf of Nicoya) to deliver a
formal agreement by which INCOPESCA’s board
of directors created the a responsible
fishing marine areas in the region between
Paloma Island and the Coloradito Sector.
According to Dobles Ramirez, the project
seeks to preserve and protect marine life in
the Gulf of Nicoya and allow the residents
of Palito to fish responsibly and improve
their socioeconomic condition.
“This decree will allow the fishermen of
Palito de Chira to have control over their
fisheries, as such control was previously
limited. Additionally, they will know the
species in the area better, as well as their
reproduction and fishing times, and will
have control over the people who badly
utilize the resources in the area,” said
Randall Sanchez, an INCOPESCA advisor.
The Palito reef is one of the most important
reproduction areas in Chira Island, where
species of commercial importance such as
shrimp, corvina fish and chucheca (a type of
clam) are regenerated. That’s why INCOPESCA,
through an executive decree enacted in
February 1995, had prohibited types of
fishing other than fishing with a hook
there, by request of the fishermen
themselves.
With support from INCOPESCA, the Ministry of
the Environment (MINAET) and other
institutions promote the development of
piangua clam aquaculture in the Gulf of
Nicoya mangroves as a way to take advantage
of this important fishing resource in a
sustainable manner.
Dobles Ramirez spoke about the advantages
the Nicoya Gulf has for development of
sea-culture projects, which would allow for
a higher income for fishermen and better use
of resources in the area.
Fisherman Magdaleno Fernandez Fernandez and
other members of the Palito de Isla Chira
Fishermen’s Association said having this
responsible fishing area is very important
to them — as this part of the oceans helps
them make a living, and they would like
their children to continue using the
resources there responsibly.
Meanwhile, Maria Eugenia Fernandez Diaz,
secretary of the same fishermen’s
association in Palito and who has been a
fisherwoman since she was seven years old,
said the fishermen in the area have
organized and agreed to only extract corvina
fish of 500 grams of more, returning the
smaller ones to the ocean so they can
reproduce.
The Palito de Chira association was formed
by some 32 fishermen due to their concerns
about the reduction in fishing stock,
particularly because of the overexploitation
taking place in the Gulf of Nicoya and the
improper use of fishing techniques that are
not allowed in the reef area and were oceans
species reproduce.
The largest island in Central America, Chira
includes some 4,300 hectares. The vegetation
there is dominated by dry tropical forest
and mangroves. Some 230 families live there.
The island has an elementary and secondary
schools, electricity, potable water that
comes from Jicaral in Puntarenas, and a
telephone network.
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