Canadian officials allege illegal catches by Portuguese vessels

[Ediacara]

Canadian officials allege illegal catches by Portuguese vessels
Canadian Press

St. John's — Canadian officials were still waiting for a response from Portugal on Saturday as fisheries officers unfurled a net recovered from the bottom of the ocean that they say is irrefutable proof of a Portuguese vessel fishing illegally just outside Canadian waters.

Rotting cod, American plaice and red fish — all species under moratoria — poked through the mesh of the net, which was cut from the vessel Brites in the early hours of May 4 as Canadian fisheries inspectors boarded it on the Grand Banks.

"It makes me sick to my stomach," said Natural Resources Minister John Efford, a former Newfoundland fisheries minister.

The net had mesh 107 millimetres wide. The smallest nets allowed under international rules to protect threatened species is 130 millimetres.

More at the Globe and Mail

[puerco-bellies]

1. In my younger days..

I used to be a commercial fisherman on the west coast. If a American fishing vessel was any where near Canadian waters, the crew would strip all fishing gear of the decks to avoid having their boats confiscated and their asses thrown in the clink. The Canadians know how to protect their resources.

[Hand]

3. Yeah, up until Lyin' Brian Mulroney...

Handed the whole fishery over to foreign purse seiners. Now there's precious little left...

:mad:

[mike_c]

2. damn, this is the second time I've posted this link...

...recently. Relevant, same as it ever was. http://dieoff.com/page95.htm