2 tons of illegaly caught shark fins - after new policy in place in Equador

Great bit of politics there ... where suddenly the sale of 'accidentally' caught shark fin becomes legal. It seems obvious to anyone that this type of policy will lead to more shark slaughter. Please read the news from canoe.ca below.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Police have seized about two tonnes of shark fins illegally fished in the days before a widely criticized presidential decree allowing the sale of fins if the sharks - some of them threatened species - are caught accidentally.

Police discovered hundreds of fins, which are considered a delicacy in Asia, in fishermen's homes in the Pacific port of Manta.

The discovery was made Tuesday, the same day a decree by President Rafael Correa went into effect allowing the sale of fins if the sharks are caught accidentally in fishermen's nets.

The decree was sharply criticized by environmentalists, who said it would promote shark fishing and make it harder to regulate attempts to preserve shark species.

Manta police chief Pedro Cozar said Thursday officers had detained 15 people for illegal fishing of sharks.

A group of fishermen led by state Gov. Juan Carlos Flor marched to the police station in Manta to demand the release of those arrested and the return of the confiscated shark fins. Flor is a member of Correa's party and is running for a seat in a constitutional assembly to be elected Sept. 30.

Jorge Chiriboga, leader of Manta's fishing cooperatives, argued those detained should be released because they were allowed to sell fins under the new decree.

Former Environment Minister Edgar Isch called the decree "a way to more easily evade any type of control" aimed at preserving shark species.

The decree "is a measure to please the fishing industry, absolutely political in search of votes" for the constitutional assembly, said Luis Rodriguez, president of tourism guides on the Galapagos Islands, 965 kilometres west of Ecuador's coast. "It opens the door to an increase in illegal fishing"

Sharks continue to be protected in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador's top tourist destination.

Correa said legalizing the sale of fins would generate income for fishermen and he stressed that deliberate shark fishing would remain illegal.

But he did not say how authorities would determine if sharks had been caught accidentally or on purpose.

In his weekly radio address on Sunday, Correa said his government was "profoundly green" on environmental matters and said controls against deliberate fishing of sharks had been toughened.

For the full story

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2007/08/03/4391565-ap.html

Contributed by Tim Hochgrebe added 2007-08-05

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Tim Hochgrebe added 2007-08-05

In further news on this thread:

Ecuador's president orders US environmental activist expelled for role in shark fin seizure

QUITO, Ecuador: President Rafael Correa said Saturday he has ordered a U.S. environmental activist deported from Ecuador for allegedly violating national sovereignty by taking part in a police seizure of two tons of shark fins apparently illegally fished.

Sean O'Hearn, a representative of the environmental group Sea Shepherd, was detained before dawn in the capital of Quito.

"I am having (him) expelled from the country because I am not going to allow any foreigner to come here to tell us what to do," Correa said on his Saturday morning radio show.

"I have an Ecuadorean wife and Ecuadorean daughter," O'Hearn told The Associated Press at the immigration center where he was being held. "This is my country, and for me to treated this way, from night to day to be deported ... without being able to defend myself, I am indignant and my wife feels indignation as an Ecuadorean."

"He has committed no crime," said Mariana Almeida, president of the environmental group Fundacion Selva Vida. "He has had the courage to defend sharks."

For the full article, read:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/04/america/LA-GEN-Ecuador-American-Expelled.php

Tim Hochgrebe added 2007-08-08

In the latest developments:

Ecuador frees US environmental activist, halts deportation order over role in shark fin raid

QUITO, Ecuador - A deportation order against a U.S. environmental activist was revoked late Saturday, hours after Ecuador’s president ordered him expelled for his role in a police raid to seize shark fins that were apparently illegally fished.

"I thought I would have to leave the country and leave my Ecuadorean wife and daughter here," Sean O’Hearn told The Associated Press by phone after being freed from the immigration center in Quito, where he was taken before dawn. "Now I am happy."

O’Hearn said he was visited during the day by Interior Minister Gustavo Larrea and a police commander who, at President Rafael Correa’s request, listened to his story and announced the expulsion order would be reversed.

For the full story, visit:

http://news.bostonherald.com/international/americas/view.bg?articleid=1015363

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2 tons of illegaly caught shark fins - after new policy in place in Equador

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