The key to the shark finning issue in Costa Rica has been the lack of controls at Costa Rican ports.

The Costa Rican Constitutional Court announced that it has accepted a case brought by PRETOMA against the Costa Rican Customs Department, the Costa Rican Fishery and Aquaculture Institute (INCOPESCA), and the Division of Navigation and Port Security of Costa Rica's Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT).

PRETOMA alleges that all three bodies are allowing unauthorized and uncontrolled landings of fishery products by foreign fishing vessels at private docks in Costa Rica. Landings at private docks facilitate evasion of controls and make it impossible to assess species depletion and to responsibly manage marine resources. As such, all three bodies are alleged to have violated article 50 of the Costa Rican Constitution which states all Costa Rican citizens have a right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment.

All three bodies are also alleged to have violated article 11 of the Constitution which specifies that all activity of public institutions must be based in law, yet no law exists that permits foreign fishing vessels to land at private docks in Costa Rica.

Additional specific allegations are also made.

• PRETOMA charges that Customs has been negligent by allowing foreign fishing vessels to land at private docks that have not been authorized as "in the public interest".

• PRETOMA charges that both Customs and the Division of Navigation and Security of MOPT have been negligent by permitting landings by foreign fishing vessels at private docks without having sought the required legal authorization from the Costa Rican Congress.

• PRETOMA charges that INCOPESCA has failed to uphold the United Nations FAO Code of Conduct of Responsible Fisheries, which was adopted as official Costa Rican policy in 1999, by allowing landings of fishery products to go uncontrolled at private docks in Puntarenas.

A letter from the Costa Rican Constitutional Court gave Ligia Castro (President of INCOPESCA), Francisco Fonseca Montero (Director of Customs) and the Division of Navigation and Security of the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation, until March 2, 2004 to reply to the denouncements made by PRETOMA.

Said Director of PRETOMA, Randall Arauz, "We have brought this case because Costa Rica has a commitment to responsible fishery policies, yet the current system of landings at private docks results in inaccurate assessment of fishery products landed, unknown products entering our country, depletion of marine species, and even evasion of taxes. Uncontrolled landings at private docks have clearly been a dream come true for foreign fishermen, a dream made possible by the inactions of Customs, INCOPESCA and MOPT. The current policy represents the short term interests of foreign fishing companies, not the long term interests of the Costa Rican people." "Pacific leatherback sea turtle populations have been reduced 95% during the last 20 years to the effect of excessive and uncontrolled fishing, and no doubt the compliance of Costa Rican laws designed to protect the public interest will be a benefit to them", he added.

PRETOMA is a Costa Rican non-profit, non-governmental, environmental protection organization that works to promote responsible fisheries and protect sea turtles, sharks and marine biodiversity.