Save Cocos Island National Park from Longline Fishing

[Ed. Note: People who care about the planet and all its inhabitants refer to longline fishing as, clearcutting the ocean's floors. From SunsOnline.org: Comparing the fishing techniques to forest clearcutting, a series of articles published in the scientific journal Conservation Biology warns that the living structures of sea beds are being destroyed at a rate much greater the current rate of destruction of the earth's forests. If you eat sea life, you may be contributing to this clearcutting.]

FROM Sea Turtle Restoration Project (STRP)

ACTION

Tell Laura Chinchilla, President of Costa Rica, to take action to provide greater protections for sea turtles and marine wildlife throughout the Cocos Ridge region:

1. Increase enforcement of the no-fishing zone to stop outlaw longliners at Cocos Island National Park.
2. Create a true no-fishing zone in the Seamount Marine Management Area.
3. Take a leadership role to create an international marine protected area with Ecuador that connects Cocos with the Galapagos to protect one of the most life-filled ocean regions left in the world.

Sign an online petition

And/Or make direct contact:

President Laura Chinchilla
c/o Costa Rican Embassy
2114 S Street NW,
Washington, DC 20008
phone (202) 234-2945
fax (202) 265-4795
ambassador@costarica-embassy.org

INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

The pristine waters of Cocos Island, Costa Rica are home to the critically endangered eastern Pacific leatherback sea turtles and a rich diversity of marine life, all of which are threatened by continued longline fishing near this National Park. We need your help to call on President Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica to provide the greatest possible protections for sea turtles and marine wildlife throughout the Cocos Ridge region.

Longlines Plague Cocos Island's Marine Ecosystem

The area is one of the very few places on earth where ocean life still thrives as it once did everywhere on the planet, yet tens of thousands of endangered sea turtles and sharks are being hooked and killed there every year.

Currently, even though fishing is outlawed in the 12 nautical miles of ocean surrounding Cocos Island National Park, longliners are still seen poaching sea life there. Just outside of the official no-fishing zone, industrial longliners scour the ocean for mahi-mahi to catch and sharks to fin. Longliners set fishing lines that are miles long, with thousands upon thousands of hooks that snag whatever’s in the way, including sea turtles.

Help Create an International Marine Protected Area Between Cocos and Galapagos

STRP is calling for the creation of a much larger, international marine protected area with Ecuador that connects Cocos with the Galapagos Islands. This swath of ocean is a key "swimway" for sea turtles and a vast profusion of marine life.

Thank you for everything you do for animals!