www.oceana.org
25/08/2006
ONE
HUNDRED FIFTY MORROCAN DRIFT NETTERS FISH ILLEGALLY IN THE ALBORAN
SEA AND THE STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR
Oceana has filmed and photographed the activities of fishing
vessels operating from the ports of Nador, Alhucemas and
Tangiers.
The
Moroccan netters are overfishing the stocks of swordfish and
killing 15,000 dolphins, pilot whales, sperm whales and other
cetaceans,
as well as 100,000 sharks per year.
As
soon as the illegal fishing activity of the Italian and French
drift netters was documented during the months of June and July,
the Oceana Ranger research catamaran headed towards the Alboran Sea
in order to obtain information regarding the operations of the last
of the three largest drift netting fleets operating illegally in
the Mediterranean. The Moroccan fleet is comprised of 150 vessels,
equipped with the most modern technology as well as nets measuring
up to 12 kilometres in length, and operates in the Southern Alboran
Sea and the Gibraltar Strait.
These vessels are based mainly in the north African ports of Nador,
Alhucemas and Tangiers. Measuring almost 15 meters in length and
comprised of crews of between 8 to 14 men, these drift netters are
capturing swordfish that are much smaller than the legally
established length of 125 cm., and most of them have not even
reached the reproductive maturity. The average size of the
swordfish captured in the Mediterranean has decreased tremendously
from 48 kgs. during the decade of the eighties to 10 kg. in 1997,
coinciding with the proliferation of drift nets in this sea. The
specimens caught by Moroccan drift netters documented by the Ranger
this week are even smaller. This renewable resource is being pushed
towards depletion.
Apart
from contributing to the overexploitation of the targeted species,
the swordfish, the Moroccan netters also cause the death of an
enormous quantity of accidental captures, such as rays, sharks and
moonfish - a species which, by the way, feeds on
jellyfish.
The Moroccan fleet's illegal nets also cause the death of thousands
of cetaceans, such as dolphins, pilot whales, sperm whales and
other species of cetaceans that get caught in the nets and drown,
sometimes after an agonising struggle. In 2003, a WWF report
estimated that approximately 15,000 specimens of striped and common
dolphins are accidentally caught each year, as well as 100,000
shark specimens.
In the last few days, the Verdemar-Ecologistas en
Acción
organisation in Cádiz has reported the presence of dozens of
Moroccan drift netters in the Straits of Gibraltar where, apart
from the damage they cause, they also represent a great risk
because they place their nets in areas of intense maritime traffic,
and these may get caught in the propellers of other vessels and
render them uncontrollable.
The Oceana Ranger research catamaran has been sailing the waters of
the Alboran Sea since the beginning of August in order to
graphically document the presence of these illegal Moroccan fishing
vessels at sea and at port, and has witnessed the warnings made by
the maritime traffic control tower in Tarifa to the ships crossing
the Straits, making them aware of the dangers of crossing this area
when the traffic zone is occupied by drift nets.
Oceana has, however, verified that the Moroccan netters are not
only present in the Gibraltar area, but also throughout the Alboran
Sea, where this illegal fishing gear is quite visible. Oceana has
even video recorded and photographed the presence of at least six
fishing vessels with illegal nets measuring over 10 kilometres in
the areas close to the Alboran Island Marine Reserve. The areas
near the banks of Xauen, Tofinño, Provençaux and Cabliers, all in
international waters, are also considered "hot spots" for the
activity of dozens of Moroccan netters.
During the easterly windstorms of the past few days, Oceana
researchers have travelled by land to the Moroccan ports used as
bases by the fleet of illegal netters, and have been able to
photograph dozens of vessels waiting at port for the meteorological
conditions to improve, while they repair hundreds of kilometres of
nets that can be clearly seen in large piles on the decks of the
vessels and on the docks, as well as spread out on the docks.
Drift nets were prohibited in the Mediterranean in 1997 by the
General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), a
regional fishery body of the FAO, through agreement 97/1,
which is binding for all member countries belonging to this
international organisation, and among them Morocco. Therefore, the
activity of this fleet of netters can be considered IUU (illegal,
unregulated and unreported fishing), the technical and official
name of what is commonly known as pirate
fishing.
Similarly, the ICCAT (the International Commission for the
Conservation of Atlantic Tuna), an inter-governmental organisation
dedicated to the regulation of the fishing of tuna and similar
species, agreed in 1996 (resolution 96/15) and reiterated in 2001
and 2003, the international ban on drift nets.
Morocco's
own legislation prohibits the use of drift nets with a length of
over 2,5 kilometres through notification number 5458, dated the
20th of November of 1992, but obviously the Moroccan authorities
are not enforcing their own prohibition.
The recent fisheries agreement between the European Union and
Morocco stipulates that a portion of the 14 million Euros that will
be granted to the Moroccan government for the development of their
fisheries policies will be used to finance the removal of these
illegal nets. This fact is quite ironic, however, if one takes into
account that two European countries, France and Italy, are quite
tolerant with their own fleets of illegal drift netters.
"Oceana
demands that all governments, European or African, comply with
international legislations which will allow for the recuperation of
fishing resources and will prevent the massacre of tens of
thousands of cetaceans, sharks and other accidental
captures," declared
Xavier Pastor, the director of Oceana in Europe, aboard the Ranger
research catamaran.
Photos:
© OCEANA/ Juan Cuetos
Illegal morrocan
drift setter lifting a moonfish onto the boat in the Alboran
Sea.
Illegal drift
netters in Nador harbor.
Illegal morrocan
drift setter with the nets hidden in the Alboran Sea
.
Oceana
has exclusive photos and video footage available for any interested
media.
OCEANA
Plaza España-Leganitos 47. 28013 Madrid,
Spain
Tel: + 34 911 440 880
Fax:
+ 34 911 440 890
E-mail: europe@oceana.org Web: www.oceana.org
Oceana
campaigns to protect and restore the world’s oceans. Our teams of
marine scientists, economists, lawyers and advocates win specific
and concrete policy changes to reduce pollution and to prevent the
irreversible collapse of fish populations, marine mammals and other
sea life. Global in scope and dedicated to conservation, Oceana has
campaigners based in Europe (Madrid, Spain; Brussels, Belgium),
North America (Washington, DC; Juneau, AK; Los Angeles, CA), and
South America (Santiago, Chile). More than 300,000 members
and e-activists in over 150 countries have already joined Oceana.
For more information, please visit
www.Oceana.org.