Seprona intercepts boat fishing illegally in the Doñana special protection area

Boat fishing illegally in the Doñana special protection area intercepted and confiscated by Seprona officers

Guardia Civil officers in the province of Cadiz have carried out a specific operation in the fight against the presence of professional fishing boats inside zone B of the fishing reserve at the mouth of the Guadalquivir river. A clam fishing boat was intervened for operating illegally in the waters surrounding the Doñana Natural Park.
As explained in a statement from the force, the vessel was fishing with the hydraulic dredge method. This is an authorised system only when carried out in a permitted area, as it can be very harmful to flora, fauna and the marine environment.
 
Seprona officers, plus a team from the GAR Drones Unit, whose aircraft is equipped with thermal and night vision cameras carried out the intervention.
The objective of the operation, which will continue to be repeated, is to put an end to the illegal activities of professional fishing boats, which go out to fish in an apparently innocent manner. Then they carry out their fishing activity on the Huelva bank of the river, which since 2010, has been declared a fishing reserve by the Junta de Andalucia.
This is the place where the different authorities carry out their sampling to determine the legal catch quotas for this species. If massive fishing is carried out, the sampling will be smaller, and therefore the catch quota for the year next will be less.
After obtaining the graphic evidence of the illicit activities, the owner of the boat was investigated as allegedly responsible for a crime against flora and fauna, his vessel sealed and moored at the Sanlucar fishing pier, and the proceedings were handed over to the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office, as reported by 20minutos.es.

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Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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