The Tico Times Online Daily Page

Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, March 3, 2004

CRAWLING along: Participants of last week's Sea Turtle Symposium hope renewed efforts to protect aquatic wildlife will bring animals like this baby American Pacific Leatherback Turtle back from the brink of extinction.
Tico Times/Gustavo Serrano

March 3

Construction Fair
ExpoConstrucción 2004 opens tonight at 6:30 p.m. At the fair, people will find the latest building systems and housing offers for all tastes, budgets and financing programs. Continues Thursday and Friday, noon-10 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.-8 p.m. at the Hotel Herradura Convention Center.

Gala Cóctel
The National Symphony Orchestra will open its official season on Fri., March 5. Immediately after the concert, guests are invited to attend the Gala Cocktail to celebrate the director Chosei Komatsu. Tickets for the cocktail cost ¢10,000 and are available at the box office at the National Theater, Av. 2, Ca. 3/5 in San José. Info: 221-5341.

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New Aquatic Wildlife
Protection Movement Under Way

Last week's gathering of more than 1,000 specialists for the International Sea-Turtle Symposium in San José brought two new efforts that aim to make Costa Rica an international leader in conservation of aquatic wildlife, participants announced.

One is a campaign directed toward Costa Rican legislators, urging them to speed the passage of the Fishing and Aquaculture Bill, designed to provide increased protection for aquatic wildlife. The environmental organization Marviva is spearheading the campaign, according to a statement released yesterday.

Costa Rica's current fishing law dates back to 1948, and all of its punitive measures were declared unconstitutional in 1995, hindering the government's ability to crack down on practices such as shark finning (cutting the fins off sharks and dumping their carcasses back into the ocean), according to the statement.

President Abel Pacheco told The Tico Times last year that quick passage of the bill, which has been stuck in Congress for the past seven years, is essential (TT Oct. 10, 2003).

The other effort is a petition signed by 350 participants of last week's sea-turtle symposium asking the government of Costa Rica to take the lead in an international movement to protect the American Pacific Leatherback Turtle, which is in danger of extinction. The participants represented more than 40 countries, according to a statement issued by Dr. Freddy Pacheco of Universidad Nacional in Heredia.

The petition will be sent to the President this week, according to its authors.

The main protection measure the petition proposes is the prohibition of the use of fishing devices that harm sea turtles.

Costa Rican shrimp-catching vessels recently began using Turtle Exclusion Devices (TEDs), prompting the United States to end an embargo on Costa Rican shrimp that went into effect in August 2003. The U.S. State Department moved to impose the embargo because it found TEDs lacking on ships here (TT, Feb. 13, 2004).

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Central American
Presidents in Spain

President Abel Pacheco and the other Central American presidents are in Spain today to observe Spain join the Central American Economic Integration Bank (BCIE).

For Pacheco, Spain is the last leg of a 12-day, four-country trip that he began on Feb. 22 (TT Daily Page, Feb. 21).

Tomorrow, Pacheco will meet with Utera Mora, Spain's Secretary of Commerce, and Spanish chambers of commerce to invite members to visit Costa Rica in search of new investment opportunities. Thursday night, Pacheco and the other Central American presidents are scheduled to have dinner with the Spanish Royal Family at the Royal Palace in the capital city of Madrid.

On Friday, the Central American presidents and top Spanish officials will sign the agreement to include Spain as part of BCIE. Spain is expected to contribute $200 million in additional funds to BCIE by serving as an extra-regional partner, similar to Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Taiwan.

During their visit, the Central American leaders will attempt to convince Spanish leaders to propose that a free-trade agreement between the European Union and Central America start no later than January 2005.

Pacheco's visit takes place just days before Spain holds its March 14 general elections. Pacheco described the visit as chance to "say goodbye" to Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar, who is scheduled to step down after eight years as head of the government.

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Universidad Nacional
Discovers New Worms

Researchers at Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia have identified 14 new species of nematode worms, university officials announced yesterday.

The worms, which researchers say can cause serious problems in agriculture, were discovered as part of a project in which more than 21,000 species of nematodes were identified and 1,522 catalogued.

Encouraging further research on these small parasitic worms, the National Institute of Biodiversity (INBio) has announced it will donate ¢14 million (approximately $35,000) to UNA's Nematology Department today.

Although the worms can live independently in water or soil, they are parasitic in plants and animals, and cause more than $100 billion in economic loses a year in the world, according to UNA. In Costa Rica, 800 metric tons of nematicides are imported each year to combat the worms.

However, many nematodes - which average one millimeter in length - can also be beneficial to the soil in which they live, helping to decompose organic material.

The Nematology Department will use the INBio donation to continue a five-year study on the worms' effect on biodiversity, according to lab coordinator Alejandro Esquivel.

In the world, approximately 25,000 species of nematodes have been discovered. Experts believe this represents only 3% of the total.

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Wednesday October 26, 2005