Overfishing, fueled by the demand for pelagic fish to supply domestic and international markets, is the main threat to marine biodiversity in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Fishery-induced mortality has been pointed out as the main cause for the decline of populations of sea turtles and sharks in the region, especially during pelagic longline operations. The collapse of the main regional leatherback sea turtle nesting colonies throughout the 1990s fostered the evaluation of different sea turtle avoidance strategies during longline operations, mainly bait and gear modifications. A migratory corridor was described for Costa Rican post-nesting leatherbacks in 2005, which migrate to the southern gyres along the northeastern flank of the Submerged Cocos Ridge (SCR), a bathymetric feature connecting Cocos Island and the Galapagos Archipelago, thus providing immediate regions where conservation measures can be implemented. Unique independent observer data sets compiled on board Costa Rican longliners from 1999 to 2010, revealed a catch constituted of 62 species, widely dominated by mahimahi, olive ridley sea turtles, and increasingly smaller silky sharks. Field trials testing different sea turtle avoidance strategies (blue dyed bait and circle hooks) either failed to reduce turtle catch, or when they did, they caused higher threatened shark catch rates, particularly vulnerable silky sharks, and critically endangered hammerhead sharks. Generalized linear models (GLMs) of catch rates provide evidence supporting a seasonal closure of the longline fishery from April to October which would benefit sea turtle and shark conservation. Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Colombia initiated a process in 1978 to provide protection to the oceanic islands of their EEZs, which culminated with the current amalgam of marine protected areas in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, under both no-take and multiple-use regimes. The existence of biological connectivity between Cocos Island, Malpelo Island, and the Galapagos Archipelago, has been confirmed through the movements of critically endangered hammerhead sharks. More recently, the seamounts along the SCR have been identified as biodiversity hotspots, where hammerhead sharks also form large schooling aggregations during the day, using the seamounts as steppingstones as they move towards different aggregation sites, not necessarily in a unidirectional fashion. A no-take policy is recommended in a 40 nm radius surrounding each of the shallow (less than 400 m deep) seamounts of the SCR, as well as in the buffer area in between them to protect hammerhead sharks during their movements from one biodiversity hotspot to another. This network of interconnected seamounts and their proposed 40 nm no-take areas and buffer zones is called the Cocos-Galapagos Swimway (CGS). West Cocos seamount in Costa Rica’s portion of the SCR, and Paramount seamount in Ecuador’s, are the most important seamounts of the Cocos – Galapagos Swimway in terms of Large Pelagic Species (LPS) richness and abundance. The recent expansion of Cocos Island National Park (CINP) from a 2,000 km2 no-take marine protected area to 54,844 km2 is viewed as very positive as it provides strict protection to critical habitats, such as Las Gemelas and West Cocos seamounts. Unfortunately, the design of the surrounding multiple-use 106,285 km2 Bicentennial Marine Management Area (BMMA) fails to provide the opportunity to safeguard biological connectivity along Costa Rica’s portion of the Cocos-Galapagos Swimway, whereas Ecuador’s Brotherhood Marine Reserve (BMR) commits the same flaw by not protecting critically important Paramount seamount in its own waters. I hereby discuss management options to be considered during the current process to design the Management Plan for the BMMA and offer two scenarios to the governments of Costa Rica and Ecuador regarding future expansions of the MPAs and policies that respond, in my view, to these considerations.