Spanish Fishermen Allege Illegal Moroccan Fishing in Territorial Waters

The organization Productores Pesqueros Pescadores de Carboneras SCA [known as Carbopesca] has denounced the activity of these Moroccan fishing boats in the "Spanish waters", claiming to have detected the presence of at least a dozen of these boats in the last 24 hours. According to this organization, the Moroccan fishermen are using an illegal fishing technique known as "drift nets", reports Vozpopuli.

"Given the freedom with which Moroccan vessels continue to carry out fishing activities in Spanish waters," the organization is once again calling for "measures against this illegality", specifying that it has already alerted the authorities several times about this illegal practice of drift nets carried out by the Moroccan fleet. "Drift nets are among the simplest and oldest fishing methods, [...] a mechanism that maintains the verticality of the net at all times," it explains.

According to Carbopesca, this illegal activity affects the Cabriar areas (located east of Alborán) and south of Alborán. The organization also denounces the inaction of the two Spanish patrol boats in the area, in the face of the alleged illegal activity of the Moroccan fishing boats, which has been denounced for many years by several associations such as Oceana or Greenpeace.

The 2022 Annual Plan for the Global Control of Fishing Activities "includes the coordination axes in the monitoring and inspection of maritime fishing in waters under Spanish sovereignty and the control of the marketing of fishery products from their first sale. Among other objectives, it is planned to prevent the presence at sea of these illegal or unauthorized vessels, to detect unidentified, unregulated or