SEA SHEPHERD SHIP SEIZES EIGHT FISHING VESSELS OFF COSTA RICA Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - "Andrew Christie" August 21, 2001 "OCEAN WARRIOR" SEIZES EIGHT ILLEGAL FISHING VESSELS OFF COSTA RICA Sea Shepherd Society and Park Rangers defend fabled Cocos Island PUNTARENAS, COSTA RICA -- With rangers from Cocos Island National Park joining its volunteer crew, the flagship of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on Monday seized a large trawler and seven support boats illegally fishing within the Park. With Captain Paul Watson at the helm, the "Ocean Warrior" captured the mother ship "San Jose," out of Manta, Ecuador, and seven of its tenders -- small boats that were supplying the main vessel. The boats were targeting sharks using long lines, a fishing method notorious for hooking and drowning turtles, rays and sea birds as well as their target catch. All boats were apprehended fishing within eight miles of Cocos Island. Fishing within 14 miles of the uninhabited island is prohibited. As of late Monday afternoon, 50 kilometers of illegal long lines had been hauled up and confiscated from the boats. "The National Park asked us for help because their boats are too small to go up against the poachers' main ships," said Captain Watson. "They were caught in the act. As we boarded the last boat, the fishermen were throwing hammerheads overboard." Shark fins can sell for more than US$30 a pound at the dock in Asian markets. The waters around Cocos are considered one of the world's premiere dive sites, thronging with sea turtles, whales, dolphins, seven species of shark, and more than 300 fish species. The Friends of Cocos Island Foundation, a non-profit Costa Rican conservation group, has identified long line fishing as the primary threat to the marine wildlife of the island. "If the justice system imposed jail terms in just a few cases, that would reduce the problem," said Elvira Sancho, Executive Director of the Foundation. Costa Rican law provides for jail sentences of up to 15 years for poaching. "Ocean Warrior" is proceeding to the Galapagos to re-supply its high-speed patrol vessel "Sirenian," which has been assisting rangers in policing the waters of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, seizing seven commercial fishing vessels there since March. -30- Sea Shepherd Conservation Society 22774 Pacific Coast Hwy. Malibu, CA 90265 Tel.(310) 456-1141 Fax.(310) 456-2488 http://www.seashepherd.org seashepherd@seashepherd.org ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-08.21.01-02:24:04-3003