Tuna Farm Breakthrough

Editor's Update for December 2010:  The developers of a Tuna Farm seem to have "gone away", or at the very least, gone very quiet. Following is the story we published in February 2010.


A Costa Rican environmental ministry has started an investigation into falsified information in Granjas Atuneras environmental impact report. Also, outgoing president of the republic Oscar Arias promised to sign a two year moratorium on the Tuna Farm project.

Tuna Farm Developers Conduct Misleading Poll and Get Caught:


Granjas Atuneras previously stated that the local population was in favor of tuna farming. In 2005 they interviewed various members of the community, and Granjas Atuneras stated that these residents voiced their support.

A few weeks ago, Setena came looking for all the people who supposedly had been interviewed. (Setena isan environmental ministry that is part of the Ministry for Mining, the Environment and Transportation, MINAET). Turns out, the Pavones area residents that were interviewed by Granjas Atuneras claimed that they had been misled and didn't approve of the tuna project at all.

Perhaps, in their 2005 survey, Granjas Atuneras asked residents innocuous questions such as, "Do you think better job opportunities would help your community?"

Setena did not visit Pavones voluntarily. It was the Supreme Court (Sala IV) that forced Setena to investigate if Granjas Atuneras did indeed consulted the local population in the prescribed manner (i.e. community hearings) or if they lied about it.

Setena's visit to Pavones gave the community another opportunity to voice their objection to the tuna farm project. A group of Pavones residents went to Golfito and signed an affidavit in front of a notary to declare that they did not approve of the tuna farm.

Setena will also have to investigate the water currents and tides in the Golfo Dulce. According to Granjas Atuneras' environmental impact report, ocean currents do not flow into the Golfo Dulce. Their environmental impact report neglected to consider ebb and flood, high and low tide.

If Setena decides that statements in the company's environmental impact report are fraudulent, Granjas Atuneras might be done for.

So, the supreme court has mandated that Setena should order an extensive study of the currents. The court mandated this 3 years ago, but Setena did not comply at that time. Instead, Setena went ahead and issued the permits to Granjas Atuneras in defiance of the court order. Now, Setena must comply: the supreme court is clamping down.

The local community organization, "No a las Granjas Atuneras" (ANAGA) is continuing with educating the public on the issue. On January 30th there was a big fiesta in the Guaymi reservation at the Rio Cana Blanca and members of the association plan to be there and contribute food to the festivities.

To read more about the background on the Tuna Farm, read this article. To donate to PRETOMA, click here.

Corrections made to this post on Feb 15. Oscar Arias' signature on the 2 year moratorium has not been confirmed. Also corrected: Granjas Atuneras claims that ocean currents do not go into the Golfo Dulce. Previously posted incorrectly as "Granjas Atuneras claims that currents only glow out of the Golfo Dulce, not into the Golfo Dulce.