Mongabay
10 February 2023
Fishing for hammerhead sharks is now illegal in Costa Rica, thanks to the signing of a new executive decree this month by President Rodrigo Chaves Robles.
The decree prohibits the capture, transportation, storage or sale of hammerhead sharks or their byproducts, such as fins and teeth. Banned species include the smooth hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena), scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) and great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran).
Despite being critically endangered — and protected under CITES Appendix II — hammerhead sharks have been bought and sold in Costa Rica for years. The animals are prized for their fins, which are often sent to countries like China to be used in shark fin soup, considered a delicacy.
“This is too late and it’s way too little,” said Randall Arauz, a biologist with Marine Watch International. “Of course I’m happy they banned hammerhead shark fishing. But hammerhead sharks were listed under CITES by initiative of Costa Rica in 2013 and it was their obligation to ban hammerhead shark fishing commercialization, extraction, everything. That’s been our battle for the last ten years.”
In that time, Arauz said hammerhead shark populations in Costa Rica have declined by around 90%.
