Illegal fishing patrols stepped up across province

cormoran almeria fisheries inspection boat on patrol TWO HIGH SPEED patrol boats have joined the fight against illegal fishing off Almería waters.
'Cormorán Almería' (pictured) and ‘Rio Adra’ are two new patrol boats that have joined the Almería Fisheries Inspection Unit.
Capable of 28 and 32 knots respectively (50 and 68 kph) the two boats are more than capable of hunting down almost all any illegal fishing boat that may not have the licenses to fish, or be fishing fish stocks that are supposed to be recuperating.
They have now entered service. ‘Albatros’, a boat already in service, is to be retired, and ‘Alcotán’, which entered service just a couple of years ago, will continue.
Andalucia has been alarmed by declining fish stocks off its coasts, and has stepped up in recent years the fight against the sale of young fish (inmaduros), once considered a delicacy in the local restaurants.
Juan Deus, provincial delegate of fisheries, said that “these two boats are necessary because on the spot inspections are a major tool in the fight to prevent the fishing of illegal fish stocks - we are attempting to dissuade people from doing it, not fining people for doing it, and it is just one of the ways we are collaborating with the fishing fleets in the province”.
The boats costs a total of 1,4 million euros, financed 80% by the Junta and 20% by the EU.
The Fisheries Inspection Unit is in charge of controlling the amount and type of fish caught off the coasts of Andalucia, and unloaded in its ports, a task carried out in conjunction with the Guardia Civil.
In 2009, the unit fined 1,342 fishermen for different reasons. 346 of those fines were levied after inspections at sea. Around two thirds of these fines were eventually waived on appeal.
Of those fines, 338 were for professional fishermen and 8 for sport fishermen. Just one hundred of those fines were for catching underage fish or for using prohibited fishing gear.
There are currently 300 fishing boats in Almería, employing around 1,200 fishermen on board.
The most common reason for a fine to be levied is for exceeding the amount of time permitted for fishing, followed by the illegal catching of species outside of their allocated fishing season.
In the case of sports fishermen, fishing without a permit, or fishing using illegal fishing gear was the most common reason for levying a fine.
“We now have a boat on all three of Almería’s main coasts” explained Sr Deus, “and this means that we can efficiently control fishermen across the province. By working together with the fishing fleet we can rotate the types of fish we are catching, permitting certain fish stocks time to recover and ensuring a supply of fish for the future”.