ASAMBLEA LEGISLATIVA DE LA REPÚBLICA DE COSTA RICA
LEY DE PESCA Y ACUICULTURA
DECRETO LEGISLATIVO N.º 8436
EXPEDIENTE N.º 15.065

"Sport fishing: The sport fishing is an activity of fishing that makes physical, national or foreign people, with the purpose of capturing, with an appropriate equipment of personal fishing for the effect, continental, aquatic jurisdictional water species or in exclusive the economic zone, without aims of profit and with intention of sport, distraction, pleasure, recreation, tourism or pastime".

"The exercise of the fishing activity with commercial aims and the sport fishing in national parks, natural monuments and biological reserves are prohibited. The exercise of the fishing activity in the continental and insular part, in the forest reserves, protective zones, national refuges of wild life and humedales, will be restricted in accordance with the plans of handling, that determines for each zone the Ministry of Atmosphere and Energía (MINAE), in the scope of its attributions. In order to create or to extend protected zones that cover marine areas, except for which it approves the Legislative Assembly in accordance with the effective laws, the Ministry will have to consult the criterion of the INCOPESCA, about the sustainable use of the biological resources in these zones".

CHAPTER VII

Sportfishing

ARTICLE 68.
- "The sport fishing is the fishing activity that makes physical, national or foreign people, with the purpose of capturing, with an appropriate equipment of personal fishing for the effect, continental, fishing aquatic jurisdictional water resources or in exclusive economic zone, without aims of profit and with intention of sport, recreation, tourism or pastime. The INCOPESCA will foment the practice and the development of the sport fishing, in coordination with the other competent authorities and the interested sectors, and will impel the practice to release the captured species alive."

ARTICLE 69.
"The INCOPESCA will regulate the national and international matches of sport fishing made in Costa Rican waters, coordination with the Costa Rican Institute of Turismo (ICT) or the associations of sport fishing properly enrolled in the National Registry. Also, it will cause the celebration of agreements with organizations and lenders of services, so that the sport fishermen protect the species".

ARTICLE 70.
"The sport fishing will be able to take place:
a) From earth.
b) On board of some boat.
c) Of subaqueous way".

ARTICLE 71.
"The proprietors or permisionarios of boats used for the sport fishing, independently of the duties that impose other laws or regulations to them, will have to fulfill the following obligations:
a) To have effective license of sport fishing.
b) To fulfill the statures, the limits of capture and the prohibitions minimum that the INCOPESCA indicates.
c) To verify that the people to those who serve to them fulfill the dispositions legal of the matter.
d) To instruct about the form in which the sport fishing must be developed.
e) To support the programs of repoblación and improvement of the places where they carry out his activity and to participate in them; also, to contribute to the maintenance and the conservation of the species and its habitat. "

ARTICLE 73.
"The INCOPESCA will establish the canons, the minimum times, zones and statures, as well as the maximum number of unit that can capture a sport fisherman, in agreement with the conditions of in question resource and the particular characteristics of the place where the activity is developed."

ARTICLE 74.
"The captures obtained of the sport fishing, according to the authorized amount of unit, will be destined to taxidermia or the consumption of those who makes them, under the terms and the conditions that the INCOPESCA determines."

ARTICLE 75.
"As much the crew as who on board practice the sport fishing of a boat or subaqueous way, will have to carry the respective membership card of sport fishing extended by the INCOPESCA "

ARTICLE 76.
"They declare the fish guards (Istiophorus albidius), marlin blue (Makaira nigrioans), marlin black (Makaira indicates), marlin rallado (audacious Tetrapturas) and sábalo (Melaops atlanticus), like species of tourist-sport interest."

CHAPTER IX

Tourist Fishing

ARTICLE 79.
" National or foreign Entiéndese as the fishing activity fishes tourist that makes physical people, with the purpose of capturing, with an appropriate equipment of personal fishing for the effect, continental, fishing aquatic jurisdictional water resources or in exclusive the economic zone, with commercial aims and exclusively tourist intentions, carried out in permanent form; also, to the tourist fishing they will be to him applicable, by analogy, the dispositions established in articles 69 to 76 of the present Law."

"The boats dedicated to this activity, will have to be registered in the ICT and will count on a special license granted by the INCOPESCA for this intention. This license could be prorogued by means of authorization of the INCOPESCA, previous study and annual revision, in order to determine that the boat is being used for such intention. In addition, the INCOPESCA will establish different types from membership cards of tourist fishing, which will be used in all the national territory, taking in consideration the time from its use".

"The INCOPESCA will foment the practice and the development of the tourist fishing, in coordination with the interested ICT and the other sectors. Also it will guard because its personnel receives the necessary qualification for the fulfillment of the proposed aims; it will impel the practice to release the captured species alive and will establish guidelines and norms that guarantee the sustainability of the high-priority species for this activity."