by Rod Hughes

Representatives of 38 countries are meeting here to discuss ways and means of promoting sustainable commercial fishing and reducing the numbers of marine turtles and seabirds killed by current practices. And it comes, ironically, almost simultatiously with the release in U.,S. movie theaters of a documentary highly critical of Costa Rica’s lack to fishing regulation.

The documentary, named Sharkwater, harshly depicts Costa Rica as lax in enforcement of anti-shark finning in its waters. The documentary raised cries of pain and rage from local officials who claim that director Rob Stewart used antiquated information in making the film and chortling from environmentalists who have long criticized local officials for largely ignoring the cruel practice despite laws banning it.

The four-day Fourth Annual International Fishers’ Forum began Monday in the Pacific port of Puntarenas and includes a tour of the nearby Gulf of Nicoya and dozens of panel discussions and presentations.

In his opening speech Monday, Jim Leape, president of the World Wildlife Fund said the world’s fisheries are in a “state of crisis,” reported the English-language weekly The Tico Times. “At current rates, we will exhaust our commercial fisheries by the middle of this century,” he stated.

Carlos Villalobos, head of the Costa Rican Fisheries Institute, was not letting the doucmentary curb his rhetoric. Calling for unity to cure the problems, he said, “We’re in an historic position to curb our impact on the oceans and to guarantee the sustainable use of our resources,” he said, adding, “Costa Rica is proud to be a part of this movement.”

The documentary Sharkwater opens in 10 theaters in this country Nov. 23. Consult The Tico Times for times and theater locations.