Costa Rica

A United States based world fisheries conservation association is gunning for punishment to be dished out, after a sportfishing boat was attacked by a commercial Venezuelan tuna purse seining boat and a helicopter off of Costa Rica’s coast.

This incident was reported, and is well documented, on The Billfish Foundation’s website: http://www.billfish.org.

The past August 1st, at just about 3PM, a United States sportfishing boat, the Silver-Rod-O, owned by Gary Carter, a TBF member, of Duluth, GA., was assaulted by the other craft, Venezuelan flagged tuna purse seiner La Rosa Mistica (The Mystic Rose), while minding its own business some 15 miles off the shores of Garza, Costa Rica.

According to Gary, the Silver-Rod-O was minding its own business, trolling around a school of spinner dolphin for yellow fin tuna and billfish, when a helicopter off of the La Rosa Mistica, began to circle overhead.

“We were celebrating one of our guest’s first-ever sailfish release, when the seiner veered from its course and headed directly toward our boat. The helicopter then began making passes over the anglers and as the seiner came closer and began setting its net, the helicopter started dropping incendiary devises around the Silver-Rod-O and the school of spinners.”

“Several explosives landed within 50 meters of the boat. The purse seiner continued to power straight toward our boat,” Carter said, “It was threatening to either encircle us in their net or to plow us into the sea unless we abandoned the school of dolphin. Rather than endanger our guests, we retreated and watched and listened as the La Rosa Mistica closed the net and its crew obnoxiously celebrated its victory.”

Just goes to show you, be careful where you fish! Hopefully, the Costa Rican authorities will look into the matter, and justice will be served.