Last week, the US Coast Guard stopped 5 Mexican lancha crews in federal Gulf waters off the coast of Southern Texas. The Coast Guard seized 590 kilos of illegally caught pink snapper from the poachers’ 5 boats. The Coast Guard Station South Padre Island boat crews and the Coast Guard Cutter Jacob Poroo crew coordinated with the Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi watchstanders and the Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi aircrews. With the coordinated effort, they positioned and stopped a complete of 5 lanchas that had 22 Mexican fishermen engaged in unlawful fishing in US federal waters.
After interdicting the 5 lanchas the Coast Guard personnel went aboard the vessels and seized 3 sharks and 590 kilos of pink snapper. Along with the fish, the fishing gear, radios, GPS units, and excessive flyers had been seized from the lanchas as properly. The 22 crew members from the lanchas had been detained by the Coast Guard after which transferred to frame enforcement brokers for processing.
“Through our great collective efforts, we continue to detect and deter illegal fishing occurring in southern Texas waters,” mentioned Petty Officer 1st Class Ryan Ortega, search and rescue coordinator, Sector Corpus Christi. “Our crews are always ready to protect U.S. waters from foreign intrusion and enforce domestic living marine resource laws.”
A lancha is an open-top fishing boat generally utilized by Mexican fishermen. The boats have an extended slender profile and are often about 20-30 ft lengthy. They usually have just one outboard motor on the again and are able to touring at speeds exceeding 30mph (26knots). These lancha boats are sometimes used within the unlawful narcotics commerce for smuggling from Mexico to the United States in addition to getting used to illegally fish within the United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone close to the U.S./Mexico border within the Gulf of Mexico.
If you witness suspicious exercise or unlawful fishing out to 200 miles offshore, please contact the U.S. Coast Guard at 361-939-0450.
