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Rica News. News on
Costa Rica continually updated.
Evidence
Surfaces
of
Illegal
Shrimping
with
Pesticides
Shrimping
in
the
Rio
Nosara
is a
fairly
lucrative
business,
and
for
many
it's
part
of a
way
of
life.
However,
there
is a
dark
underbelly.
In
order
to
meet
demand
and
keep
prices
low,
there
needs
to
be a
large
supply
of
shrimp,
and
the
bigger
the
better.
But
murky
water
in
the
Nosara
River
can
make
it
hard
to
spot
the
good
ones
and
to
catch
them
the
traditional
way,
by
hand.
As a
result,
some
have
apparently
turned
to
using
agrochemicals
or
pesticides
to
catch
shrimp.
Shortly
after
April
4,
when
Nosara
had
a
few
days
of
heavy
rain,
Javier
Hernandez
Jiron,
a
fisher
in
the
Nosara
area,
spotted
hundreds
of
dead
shrimp
and
a
few
fish
floating
on
the
Rio
Nosara.
He
believes
shrimpers
were
using
pesticides
to
catch
shrimp
on
one
of
the
nights
before
and
noted
that
the
ones
left
floating
in
the
river
were
the
least
saleable.
Shrimp
fishing
is
done
at
night,
usually
after
rainfall
as
the
river
is
highest
and
the
shrimp
are
easier
to
catch.
Hernandez
indicated
that
there
are
two
periods
of
the
year
when
people
seem
to
use
chemicals
for
shrimping:
at
the
beginning
and
at
the
end
of
rainy
season.
The
process
of
using
pesticides
to
catch
shrimp
makes
it
even
easier:
the
chemicals
are
sprayed
on
the
water,
killing
the
shrimp,
which
then
float
to
the
top,
and
the
choicest
ones
are
selected.
Jeison
Vargas,
chief
of
the
tourist
police
in
Guiones,
confirmed
that
using
pesticides
to
catch
shrimp
is
illegal
and
can
be
penalized
with
imprisonment.
He
is
aware
of
at
least
one
local
case
in
2011
of
someone
poisoning
shrimp.
Antonio
Porras
Porras,
a
biologist
and
Technical
General
Director
for
the
Instituto
Costarricense
de
Pesca
y
Acuicultura
(INCOPESCA-
Costa
Rican
Institute
of
Fishing
and
Agriculture),
explained
that
methods
for
poisoning
shrimp
are
totally
unsustainable
and
extremely
damaging
to
the
environment
since
the
poison
kills
both
small
and
large
shrimp
as
well
as
other
species,
resulting
in a
great
loss
to
the
ecosystem.
"They
are
killing
the
river,"
he
declared.
The
amount
of
damage
depends
on
the
amount
and
type
of
poison
used,
Porras
noted.
He
is
aware
of
some
"natural"
poisons
derived
from
the
sawdust
of
certain
trees,
but
he
affirmed
that
even
this
method
of
poisoning
shrimp
is
harmful.
These
chemicals
may
also
find
their
way
into
the
human
body.
Dr.
Lissy
Mejia
Quiros
of
the
EBAIS
in
Belen
of
Nicoya,
explained
that
symptoms
of a
reaction
to
toxins
may
include
skin
rash,
the
closing
of
respiratory
tract,
vomiting,
diarrhea
or
fever.
The
clandestine
nature
of
shrimp
fishing
in
the
river
and
the
substantial
profit
in
bringing
in
large
catches
and
large
shrimps
makes
actively
prohibiting
the
use
of
pesticides
a
difficult
job.
However,
Vargas
encourages
anyone
who
knows
of
someone
doing
this
to
report
it
to
the
police.
