Ban shark finning and fishing in Costa Rica

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BACKGROUND | SOURCE FACEBOOK

The Sharks in Costa Rica are abandoned. Over 200.000 are brutally chopped alive and thrown into the sea while still conscious.

Shark slaughter continues in Costa Rica. Taiwanese finning ships now dock illegally, at private facilities, to escape the reach of the law. The act is cruel, inhumane and misrepresents a country recognized for biodiversity protection. Learn more by visiting http://www.sharkwater.com/

Every year around 200.000 sharks are slaughtered,chopped alive in Costa Rica.

Last month the international shark finning fleet’s boats (the same ones that previously arrived at Costa Rica’s private docks) began docking and landing shark fins in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. What’s more, the fins are loaded into trucks and driven/imported back into Costa Rica where they are prepared for export.

Voice your disapproval of shark finning and be a part of the movement to save sharks and restore their populations.

PETITIONS

1) http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Stop_the_trade_in_shark_fins_in_Costa_Rica/?launch

2) http://www.change.org/petitions/ban-shark-finningfishing-in-costa-rica

3) http://www.thepetitionsite.com/703/908/499/stop-ilegal-shark-fining-in-costa-rica/

WHOM TO CONTACT

consulate@costarica-embassy.org , embassy@costarica-embassy.org , ambassador@costarica-embassy.org , ldachner@costarica-embassy.org , jsalas@costarica-embassy.org , aoduber@costarica-embassy.org , achacon@costarica-embassy.org , gnavarro@costarica-embassy.org

SAMPLE LETTER

To Whom It Concerns,

I am writing today to request you immediately ban shark finning, a process of extreme animal suffering and environmental destruction. Please allow me this opportunity to elaborate. Shark fin commerce is a vicious business; indeed, the unprincipled nature of such operations includes mutilating the shark for fins and then discarding the still-living shark to die in what can only be considered prolonged agony and fear. To deliberately inflict a non-human animal to such an incredibly savage practice is contrary to any established animal protection policies, and the majority of citizens, including voting constituents, has repeatedly voiced condemnation of such abuse.

Additionally, it has been factually established that shark meat is essentially toxic: shark products contain harmful levels of mercury, the content of which could prove potentially harmful to people, particularly women and children, who have been advised to discontinue consumption. Furthermore, claiming a desire to be a leader in environmental protection, Costa Rica has instead contradicted such assertions by sanctioning such an environmentally unsound business. To promote oneself as environmental while enabling shark harvesting is both unethical and fraudulent. Indeed, killing sharks has been proven ecologically detrimental, harming an extremely fragile and vitally important ecosystem, the consequences of which negatively affect all other marine and land life. Because these systems exist amongst each other in symbiotic relationships, no animal, human or non-human, is immune.

As such, I am encouraging you to make the ethical and ecologically-beneficial decision to ban the commerce of shark finning in your country; until such a time, I feel my only recourse is to promote a boycott. Sacrificing vital business during the current financial climate may prove commercially damaging, and my hope is that this letter finds you willing to consider your actions and implement changes to ensure the safety of all animals, sharks and humans, as well as the vital ecology being continually eroded because of such damaging practices.

I know your time is limited and I thank you for your attention to this important issue.

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