José Luis Carrillo Galáz, president of the Mexican Confederation of Fishing Cooperatives (Conmecoop) declared that less than a week after the grouper ban ends and the capture season that begins on Monday, April 1, the Mexican Navy and Yesterday, Tuesday, the National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission (Conapesca) dealt a hard blow to poaching by stopping the fishing boat “Tiburón 18” with a shipment of 500 kilos of red and black grouper.
The steel-hulled boat was confiscated and the five fishermen were arrested for catching closed species. The operation was carried out on Tuesday afternoon, March 26, near the coast of this port.
The “Tiburón 18” is owned by the company of Carlos Zacarías Dib, and according to the information provided by Carrillo Galáz, it had set sail from Yucalpetén for about 10 days supposedly to capture red snapper, but they dedicated themselves to fishing poaching of red and black grouper, a marine species temporarily closed from February 1 to March 31.
The reports, Carrillo Galáz details, are that the Conapesca inspectors with the support of the Mexican Navy who were carrying out inspection patrols off the coast of this port boarded the “Tiburón 18” and in the inspection of the refrigerators they found fresh, recently captured about 500 kilos of grouper and blackfish, good-sized specimens and probably with eggs, since the marine species are in the middle of the reproduction process.
The “Tiburón 18”, 60 feet long, indicates Carrillo Galáz, as far as is known it was confiscated by the federal authorities and was deposited at the dock of the Aquarium Base of the Yucaletén Port Captaincy. The five fishermen would also have been arrested since the capture of closed species is a criminal offense.
Carrillo Galáz affirms that in this grouper ban that ends on Sunday, March 31, at least 50 vessels from the larger fleet were dispatched to fish for red snapper, and they would have caught grouper. There are also riverside people dedicated to poaching.
He mentioned that the blow dealt to grouper poaching is the result of the meetings that the fishing sector has held with federal authorities such as Conapesca, the Mexican Navy, and the Port Captaincy, to protect the closed species and inspection and surveillance tasks.
TYT Newsroom
