The practice of trawling in Costa Rica has been a topic of discussion for several years, and since 2013 the Constitutional Chamber had forbidden the renovation or emission of new trawling permits due to the environmental damages this practice causes. There are currently no valid licenses for trawling.

However, the topic was brought back to life this past few days when 28 members of Congress approved the bill that would reactivate the issuing of said licenses for semi-industrial vessels.

Today, the bill is being sent to the Presidency and Carlos Alvarado will have 10 days to decide if he exercises his veto on this initiative.

Many environmental organizations, artisanal fishermen, and a large part of the citizens have manifested their opposition to the bill, this because they consider that the benefit to the fishing sector does not compensate for the environmental damages that this fishing technique is known to cause in the marine ecosystems, particularly due to the accidental capture of other marine species and the depletion of shrimp species, among others.

President Carlos Alvarado has not given any statements in regard to this bill; however, during his campaign, he affirmed on several occasions he was firmly against trawling. Alvarado has the right to give a total veto to the law or a partial one, in this case, the Presidency will need to propose a reform of the bill.

Once the bill is returned to Congress, three things can happen: 1- if there was a partial veto they can make the necessary reforms and return it to the Executive Branch which cannot exercise another veto at that point. 2- Approve it again without making any reforms but for this, they need at least 38 votes in favor. 3- If the project does not have the 38 votes needed it will be archived.

If the bill is approved, before new licenses are granted, the bill establishes that the Costa Rican Fisheries and Aquaculture Institute (Incopesca) will have one year to carry out studies that demonstrate the sustainability of the technique. However, specialists in the area consider that the term given is not sufficient to carry out adequate studies to determine the viability of trawling.

In October 2016, the School of Economics of the National University (UNA) presented a socioeconomic study of the semi-industrial shrimp trawling sector which showed that the practice only generates 590 direct jobs, of which 80 percent are of poor quality and below minimum wage. Shrimp peelers earn on average 37 times less than license owners.