Fishermen in Costa Rica protested yesterday in Puntarenas and blocked roads, for several hours demanding to speak to representatives of the Government; the Ministry of the Presidency, Rodolfo Piza, agreed to meet with representatives of the sector with the condition that they lifted the roadblocks that left many drivers stuck for hours, specifically in the road to Barranca; leaders of the fishermen claimed they had lost control of the protesters blocking the streets and the meeting finally began at 10 p.m. Tuesday and extended until 2 a.m. today.

According to the government, they reached consensus in topics such as the access to financing for the purchase of navigation beacons (for satellite geolocation), autonomy studies for 40-mile fleets and investigation permits for sustainable shrimp trawling; among others.

“During the morning hours, the authorities answered several concerns the fishermen had in topics such as electronic invoices, shrimp trawling, fishing categories, navigation autonomy and the activation of protocols that prevent the international commerce of certain species”, states the government’s press release.

However, the fishermen, deny any consensus, apparently did not agree to some of the offers and presented a counter-proposal and insist in points such as the investigation permits for shrimp trawling, and financing for geolocators, among others.

The fishermen demand action from the Government to reactivate the economic activity and generate employment.

The protests might resume this afternoon if the fishermen do not come to terms with the authorities.

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court in Costa Rica already ruled earlier this year that the bill that had been approved in first debate by the Legislative Assembly that would have allowed trawling practices was unconstitutional, confirming its ruling from 2013 of forbidding the renovation or emission of new trawling permits due to the environmental damages this practice causes.

President Carlos Alvarado has clearly stated in the past his opposition to trawling practices and had commented that his administration would focus on offering alternative job opportunities to fishermen.