Paying $12 million could be the punishment for the owner of the Panamanian licensed TIUNA, for the environmental damaged caused while fishing illegally in the protected waters of Cocos island, where the boat was detained on January 29th 2008.
The Tiuna, its helicopter, 4 speedboats and a dinghy that formed the fishing fleet have not been allowed to leave Costa Rica by orders of the Administrative Environmental Tribunal, since the 7 march, weeks after the boat was detained in the waters of Cocos Island.
MINAE ( Ministry of Environment and Energy) denounced the owners of the tiuna in front of the courts for damage to the environment caused by illegal fishing in protected waters, and members of the Environmental tribune travelled to Panama to serve the court order to Agusta Fishing Corporation Company LTD, whose offices are in Panama City, and are represented by business man Domenico Cannavo Tringali who is to be held personally responsible, along with the captain of the tiuna, Ariel Bustamante Sanchez.
MINAE are requesting that the accused pay for their actions, and make an example that no body can fish in protected waters of Costa Rica.
A recent economic evaluation estimated that the environmental damage caused by the fishing boat to be $12 million, and it was taken into account the 260 tonnes of yellowfin tuna that was stored on the boat, which had been captured within the 12 nautical miles of the Marine national Park.
A previous evaluation was calculated at $371.400, which only took into account 7.5 tonnes of tuna.
Also filing a claim are the director of ACMIC ( area of marine conservation Isla del Coco) and the vice minister of the Environment and Energy.