(Map opposite: Dark Blue represents area protected by Article II) The government of Panama has repealed Article II of the law protecting Coiba National Park. The second article stated that it was illegal to allow commercial fishing of tuna in the waters around Coiba Island. It looks as though a Spanish company wants to invest in tuna farms on the Pacific coast of Panama. The Spanish company in question – Granjas Atuneras - first came to Panama in 2004. In 2004, Granjas Atuneras operation in Chiriqui Province was quickly closed by the current government. Now, it looks as if the government that closed Granjas Atuneras operations in Chiriqui in 2004 has changed its mind and decided to extend fishing privileges around Coiba to the very same company in 2008.
The government in Panama has stated that it is absolutely determined to pass a resolution that will allow tuna fishing in the waters around Coiba which are considered part of Coiba National Park. Environmental groups have protested to the government, but so far they have been rebuffed. Why is the government so determined to pass laws that open the waters around Coiba to tuna fishing is a mystery. Some speculate that it’s a first attempt to develop Coiba and convert the island from a national park to a tourist center, though no one in the government is suggesting that this is what they have planned for Coiba. Coiba is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Four Panamanian environmental groups that oppose tuna fishing around Coiba as well as the Sports Fishing Association of Panama, argue that the introduction of tuna fishing in the waters around Coiba will devastate other marine life such as sea turtles, whales, and dolphins. Commercial tuna fishing is done with large nets which catch all kinds of marine life other than tuna.
This sudden interest in allowing tuna farms might have something to do with the slow down in the Panamanian real estate market. We are in the last building phase of the Panamanian real estate boom – when the construction market slows down people will begin to enter a new niche market like fishing.
This interest in harvesting the sea is not new to Panama: in the 1970s the small town of Vacamonte was opened up to international fishing – in the case of Vacamonte it was shrimp rather than tuna. Jobs were created but most of the money from the shrimp went to international companies from Japan, Spain and the United States.
Next week there will be a debate in the National Assembly about whether or not the rescinding of Article II will be permanent or not. More to follow.
