The Civil Guard of the island of Lanzarote, clarified on May 19 a crime against wildlife, by proceeding to arrest the alleged perpetrator of the fishing excursions of rays and sharks that were offered on the island of Lanzarote and that were disseminated on various social networks as a tourist attraction.
The investigation began as a result of the publication on social networks and on a traveler review platform offering this service as a professional fishing guide, in which an alleged company offered a series of excursions to capture large protected species, which are expressly prohibited from being captured at a price of around 150 euros.
Immediately, the Civil Guard initiated an investigation in order to verify the publication on networks, these facts being also denounced by several environmental protection associations, verifying how it had proceeded to fish several specimens, at least 4 species of sharks and 3 species of protected rays, some of them in danger of extinction, all with photographs.
Among the species offered for fishing, the Jaquetón Shark could be located, a species whose capture is prohibited, the Hammerhead Shark included in the LESRPE, the Angel Shark in danger of extinction and other species in which its capture is totally prohibited according to regulations such as the Mantelina, the Black Stingray and the Longnose Stingray.
The Civil Guard, among other police investigations, carefully studied the images published on social networks, identifying the coastline southwest of Playa Quemada, within the Protected Area Natural Monument of Los Ajaches, in Lanzarote, as the place where the events occurred.
In addition, the publications that were made in this regard, it could be observed how the alleged responsible was offered as an extreme fishing business when in reality behind those publications was hiding a private individual without any type of civil responsibility who fished on foot from the shore with fishing gear, according to what the author himself had acknowledged in statements to a media outlet.
With this action, the Civil Guard avoided environmental damage to some species (Jaquetón shark or silky shark, blue shark or tintorera, hammerhead shark, angel shark, longnose stingray, black stingray and mantelina), with all the police actions being placed at the judicial disposal of the corresponding duty court of Arrecife.
