Civil Guard agents from the Fuerteventura Maritime Detachment intervened on August 26 with 12 large fish traps without any identification, in the area of the Quíquere Ravine, on the east coast of Lanzarote. They failed to comply with different precepts included in the legislation, such as lacking the mandatory marking.
Citizen collaboration was fundamental in the discovery of the fish traps, according to the Civil Guard, which recalls that it has an email address (sugerencias@guardiacivil.org) whose purpose is general attention to citizens, also serving as a channel to receive information on matters that may initiate an investigation.
Thus, on the 26th and aboard the Canal Bocayna patrol boat, members of the Fuerteventura Maritime Detachment proceeded to search for the fish traps in the area of the Quíquere Ravine. Once located, they were removed from the water with the lifting machines that were installed on the patrol boats by the Government of the Canary Islands. The fish traps, of various sizes, had a maximum diameter of 4 meters.
The seized fish traps were taken ashore, in this case to the Corralejo dock, where they were made available to the Vice-Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture of the Government of the Canary Islands for their subsequent destruction, with the Civil Guard continuing with the operation against illegal fish traps.
During the current year, the Civil Guard has removed a total of 25 fish traps, three trammel nets and two illegal longlines from the waters of Lanzarote, mostly in the southern area of the island, La Santa and the Chinijo Archipelago.
Sanctions of up to 60,000 euros
The Civil Guard recalls that the use of fish traps is regulated by ministerial order and by the Royal Decree that develops the Regulations of the Fisheries Law of the Canary Islands. These regulations establish a series of provisions such as the regulation of the identification plates of the fish traps and the minimum depth at which they must be located, as well as the marking of the same and permitted buoys.
In this regard, the Civil Guard points out that the furtive use of fish traps on the maritime coast may entail administrative sanctions of up to 60,000 euros, by virtue of the State Maritime Fisheries Law.
