Scientists say environmental impact ‘criteria’ did not
look at impact on gulf
By Mike McDonald
Tico Times Staff
PAVONES – Local opposition to the construction
of a tuna farm near the mouth of
the Golfo Dulce is growing fast.
Members of nearby communities, along
with local and national organizations, gathered
by the hundreds here on Sunday to protest
the Granjas Atuneras, S.A. project three
weeks after the Environment, Energy and
Telecommunications Ministry (MINAET) dismissed the Marine Turtle and Restoration
Program’s (PRETOMA) complaints about
the project.
At the center of the “Save the Golfo
Dulce Festival” was a petition circulated by
PRETOMA, which collected 704 signatures.
PRETOMA officials personally delivered the
30-page appeal to the office of President
Oscar Arias on Wednesday.
“Our organization joins forces with these
communities in their call for you...to newly
suspend the execution (of the tuna farm) as
long as it doesn’t comply with the stipulations
of the Supreme Court (Sala IV),” the
petition reads.
Although yet to be constructed, the proposed
farm already has a long legal history,
and this is not the first time a suspension of
the project has been requested.
Based on PRETOMA’s initial lawsuit, the
Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court
(Sala IV) suspended the project in 2007 until the
Environment Ministry’s Technical Secretariat
(SETENA) sought out an independent source
to conduct “the necessary technical studies”
(TT Nov. 21, 2008). One of PRETOMA’s many
concerns was that gulf currents would carry
large amounts of fish excrement into the gulf
and choke the area’s ecosystem.
SETENA asked the University of Costa
Rica’s Ocean Science and Limnology Research
Center (CIMAR) for “technical criteria”
regarding the tuna farm, which CIMAR completed
in 11 days. CIMAR did not conduct any
studies of the Golfo Dulce for the report, and
CIMAR director Alvaro Morales said a specific
study of the impact of the proposed farm
on the gulf is not what SETENA requested.
“They wanted technical criteria, not
a study. We gave them technical criteria,”
Morales said.
Morales noted that in order to best assess
the environmental impact of the project, a
Golfo Dulce-specific study should be conducted.
He said such a study would be a long
term and more expensive process, something
that CIMAR’s report explicitly states.
Nonetheless, SETENA suggested on Nov.
6, 2008 that the project continue, based on
CIMAR’s report and other internal studies.
Accepting SETENA’s recommendation,
MINAET rejected PRETOMA’s arguments
against the project on April 30 of this year.
Morales admitted that he thought
SETENA used the CIMAR report out of
context, but said “if SETENA wants to use it
in that way, that’s their issue.”
Despite numerous phone calls, SETENA
officials did not respond to questions by
press time.
PRETOMA’s petition concludes that a
study which “determines with a high level of
certainty” the environmental impact of the
farm has not been done. “For this, we don’t
accept the decision of (MINAET’s) interim
minister, Jorge Rodríguez.”
Local Reaction
Now that the project is only a ship crane’s
swing away from commencement, locals
who depend on the water’s pura naturaleza
are worried about the possible environmental
impact and the economic consequences
that could follow construction of the farm.
Víctor Rocha, president of the National
Artesanal Fishing Federation, is afraid contamination
from the farm will negatively
affect fishing yields. The area where Granjas
Atuneras, S.A. plans to build the tuna farm is
a rich fishing ground for red snapper, one of
the gulf ’s most popular catches.
Rocha noted that many of the fishermen
lead fishing tours for foreigners who visit
the area. For a four-hour tour, a visitor pays
around $300 to the local fisherman.
“The contamination, plus the loss of
fishing grounds, would be horrible for us,”
Rocha said. “We have to travel out far enough
as it is to fish, and gas isn’t cheap.”
Patricia Arce, executive director of the
National Chamber of Seafood Exporters, said
there is a large market for tuna, although very
little is consumed in Costa Rica.
“Most of the tuna from this farm would
be for export,” she said. Arce speculated most
of the tuna would be sent to Asia, where
much of the world’s tuna is consumed.
As for jobs, Arce said the company
could build a processing plant on shore
which could provide opportunities to
locals. Although Pavones and its neighboring
communities don’t appear to have
the infrastructure to support a processing
plant, Arce said that Golfito or Puerto
Jiménez, the area’s larger towns, could be
options for the facility.
Since Granjas Atuneras is a foreign
company which would be producing tuna
largely for export, locals don’t believe that
they would be the ones hired for the jobs,
but Arce said that is “up to the company.”
Attempts by The Tico Times to reach
Granjas Atuneras, S.A. were unsuccessful by
press time.n
of a tuna farm near the mouth of
the Golfo Dulce is growing fast.
Members of nearby communities, along
with local and national organizations, gathered
by the hundreds here on Sunday to protest
the Granjas Atuneras, S.A. project three
weeks after the Environment, Energy and
Telecommunications Ministry (MINAET) dismissed the Marine Turtle and Restoration
Program’s (PRETOMA) complaints about
the project.
At the center of the “Save the Golfo
Dulce Festival” was a petition circulated by
PRETOMA, which collected 704 signatures.
PRETOMA officials personally delivered the
30-page appeal to the office of President
Oscar Arias on Wednesday.
“Our organization joins forces with these
communities in their call for you...to newly
suspend the execution (of the tuna farm) as
long as it doesn’t comply with the stipulations
of the Supreme Court (Sala IV),” the
petition reads.
Although yet to be constructed, the proposed
farm already has a long legal history,
and this is not the first time a suspension of
the project has been requested.
Based on PRETOMA’s initial lawsuit, the
Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court
(Sala IV) suspended the project in 2007 until the
Environment Ministry’s Technical Secretariat
(SETENA) sought out an independent source
to conduct “the necessary technical studies”
(TT Nov. 21, 2008). One of PRETOMA’s many
concerns was that gulf currents would carry
large amounts of fish excrement into the gulf
and choke the area’s ecosystem.
SETENA asked the University of Costa
Rica’s Ocean Science and Limnology Research
Center (CIMAR) for “technical criteria”
regarding the tuna farm, which CIMAR completed
in 11 days. CIMAR did not conduct any
studies of the Golfo Dulce for the report, and
CIMAR director Alvaro Morales said a specific
study of the impact of the proposed farm
on the gulf is not what SETENA requested.
“They wanted technical criteria, not
a study. We gave them technical criteria,”
Morales said.
Morales noted that in order to best assess
the environmental impact of the project, a
Golfo Dulce-specific study should be conducted.
He said such a study would be a long
term and more expensive process, something
that CIMAR’s report explicitly states.
Nonetheless, SETENA suggested on Nov.
6, 2008 that the project continue, based on
CIMAR’s report and other internal studies.
Accepting SETENA’s recommendation,
MINAET rejected PRETOMA’s arguments
against the project on April 30 of this year.
Morales admitted that he thought
SETENA used the CIMAR report out of
context, but said “if SETENA wants to use it
in that way, that’s their issue.”
Despite numerous phone calls, SETENA
officials did not respond to questions by
press time.
PRETOMA’s petition concludes that a
study which “determines with a high level of
certainty” the environmental impact of the
farm has not been done. “For this, we don’t
accept the decision of (MINAET’s) interim
minister, Jorge Rodríguez.”
Local Reaction
Now that the project is only a ship crane’s
swing away from commencement, locals
who depend on the water’s pura naturaleza
are worried about the possible environmental
impact and the economic consequences
that could follow construction of the farm.
Víctor Rocha, president of the National
Artesanal Fishing Federation, is afraid contamination
from the farm will negatively
affect fishing yields. The area where Granjas
Atuneras, S.A. plans to build the tuna farm is
a rich fishing ground for red snapper, one of
the gulf ’s most popular catches.
Rocha noted that many of the fishermen
lead fishing tours for foreigners who visit
the area. For a four-hour tour, a visitor pays
around $300 to the local fisherman.
“The contamination, plus the loss of
fishing grounds, would be horrible for us,”
Rocha said. “We have to travel out far enough
as it is to fish, and gas isn’t cheap.”
Patricia Arce, executive director of the
National Chamber of Seafood Exporters, said
there is a large market for tuna, although very
little is consumed in Costa Rica.
“Most of the tuna from this farm would
be for export,” she said. Arce speculated most
of the tuna would be sent to Asia, where
much of the world’s tuna is consumed.
As for jobs, Arce said the company
could build a processing plant on shore
which could provide opportunities to
locals. Although Pavones and its neighboring
communities don’t appear to have
the infrastructure to support a processing
plant, Arce said that Golfito or Puerto
Jiménez, the area’s larger towns, could be
options for the facility.
Since Granjas Atuneras is a foreign
company which would be producing tuna
largely for export, locals don’t believe that
they would be the ones hired for the jobs,
but Arce said that is “up to the company.”
Attempts by The Tico Times to reach
Granjas Atuneras, S.A. were unsuccessful by
press time.n
No comments:
Post a Comment