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Photo Credit: Pretoma |
A recently ruled court verdict may have opened a loophole
that legalizes Shark Finning in Costa Rican waters. After Kathy Tseng, a Taiwanese-Costa
Rican woman, was caught with 652 shark fins at port and arrested, animal rights
advocates thought maybe justice would finally be served to offenders only to
find that she was released based on a technicality.
Kathy Tseng arrived at a Costa Rican port with over 652
shark fins in 2011, well after the country had outlawed shark finning and the
sale of shark fins. So how was she acquitted of the charges? To be convicted of
Shark Finning, the fins of the shark need to be removed from the body while at
sea. Kathy Tseng technically did not remove the fins at sea; however, she did
take part in an equally horrific practice known as “shark spining” or “back
boning”. Instead of removing the fins, the fisherman hack away the flesh of the
shark until only the spine remains, with fins “naturally attached”, which meets
the law’s requirement of bringing all sharks to port with the fins still
intact. By not bringing the entire shark aboard, fisherman can save room in the
hull for additional sharks, thus the appeal of finning or spining.
In 2011, Tseng attempted to dock her boat with over 330
shark skeletons aboard, but only after submitting a query as to if what she had
done was kosher. After docking, officials were ordered to destroy all fins that
were only attached the spine, costing Tseng’s company thousands of dollars.
After being arrested and charged with finning, conservationists warned Costa
Rican officials that a not-guilty verdict would create loopholes that would
allow the shark fin trade to begin flourishing in Costa Rica and under legal
grounds. On Monday, Tseng was acquitted of charges due to the fact that she did
not technically unload and sell the shark fins. Since the fins were seized at
port, the judge deemed Tseng of not having committed a crime. Key eyewitnesses
also backed out of testifying last minute for reasons not entirely clear.
With this verdict, conservationists worry that the gates
may have opened to legal shark finning. Fisherman may now arrive at port with
shark fins as long as they do not unload them and some of them may even be able
to get away with unloading the fins if they are still “naturally attached” via
spining. “It’s another slap in the face of the conservation movement,” voices
Randall Arauz, the current President of Pretoma, a Costa Rican ocean
conservationst organization. “We are going out to the world showing ourselves
as a world leader in shark-finning legislation, and then we show the world that
when it comes to our domestic policies we are still ruled by the shark finning
industry.”
Prosecutors can still appeal the acquittal of Tseng’s
charges within 15 days of the verdict and have already stated that they intend
to do so. Tseng is also facing charges of Human Trafficking after over 30 Asian
slaves were found working within her fishing company.