MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Foreign jiggers once again at '200-mile' border
Hundreds of jiggers along with about a dozen large factory vessels are once again operating near the country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in Argentina from where they move into territorial waters to illegally catch squid (Illex argentinus).
Reportedly, the vessels' crews ignore warnings by Navy personnel and do not respond to radio calls, irrelevant of which language is used.
An air-sea pilot told El Chubut: "The only thing that's heard via vessel-to-vessel radio communications is a fish auction and different prices."
Sources for the daily within the Navy said little could be done as over-flying, photographing or intimidating the vessels from the air was not enough. To confound the issue, they added, they do not have adequate legal and political backing.
In cases where the poachers are eventually caught, legal proceedings usually take a long time and crews abandon their vessels and return home.
During control fights, pilots have allegedly been able to observe jiggers approaching factory vessels and transferring their catches. Concentrations of vessels have been detected off Camarones and Comodora Rivadavia in Chubut province.
The newspaper claimed that even though foreign vessels were generally in international waters, their proximity to the country's EEZ enabled them to enter territorial waters at night and perform illegal activities that seriously deplete reserves. The country has an extremely long coastline and budget problems reduce surveillance effectiveness.
Source: FIS
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