Just a few days after Argentinian Coast Guards were forced to allow a Chinese jigging vessel to escape pursuit after being identified fishing inside Argentina’s EEZ, a Portuguese trawler was arrested yesterday, also identified as fishing a short distance inside the 200-mile limit.
Coast Guard vessel GC-27 Prefecto Fique approached Portuguese trawler Calvao which was found to have its gear in the water, and initially refused to haul and prepare for a boarding as it headed for international waters beyond the 200-mile line.
According to a Coast Guard statement, GC-27 Prefecto Fique tracked Calvao for four hours before a Coast Guard boarding team were able to gain access to the trawler.
Calvao was identified as operating 199.75 nautical miles from the baseline, placing it a few hundred metres inside Argentinian waters.
The boarding party carried out procedures on board the trawler, which is reported to now be underway under escort to Bahía Blanca, where legal proceedings have been initiated for infringements of fisheries legislation and for failing to obey when required to stop and be boarded.
