Tuna fishermen report collision with Guardia Civil vessel in Gibraltar waters

A Customs vessel attended the east side following distress calls from a local boat and confirmed that officers from a Guardia Civil launch made multiple attempts to board local fishing boats in Gibraltar waters.
This follows several reports in the past week involving similar interactions between local boats and the Guardia Civil.
The Spanish officers told Customs they were attempting to stop illegal fishing outside of Gibraltar’s three mile perimeter
Today, Tuna fishermen have reported that a Guardia vessel damaged their boat after colliding with it in Gibraltar waters.
Iain Triay Clarence spoke with Sam Marrache of the Tuna Fishing Club

[@richardg7758]

This incident has been building up since the tuna season started,as they have been patrolling in and out of BTW on a daily basis.There has and there is an unrealistic hope by the Gibraltar authorities that the Guardia Civil will of their own accord focus their attention elsewhere and stop their daily illegal incursions and even worse take executive action not disimilar to their terms of engagement with smugglers.
It proves how inadequate the protection and patrolling of our water is and how inadequate and inefficient the response time is.
There is convenient oversight by the department of environment when it comes to license holder who purposely fish outside the 3 miles,not having drafted in law the prohibition of weighing a fish hooked outside the license limits.
It is generally known that it is not that 2% referred that fish outside the limits but more like the upper 50% who constantly fish outside the limits to the overall detriment of the others true recreational fishermen.
There have been others unreported incidents of expensive fishing gear confiscated by the guardia civil because they have happened outside the 3 mile limits albeit in international water which Spain considers theirs as they do for the 3 mile limit anyway.
A few thing have to happen to avoid further incidents..revaluation of the terms of the tuna licenses,stop the commercialization of the sport both in the illegal selling of tunas and the unlicensed chartering operations.
The effective coordination of physical presence in BTW particularly in the few weeks the season is opened by all relevant authorities,primarily by the Royal Navy and the the RGP.All credit to the customs who have overtaken and surpassed their role at sea as first responders.
As for the environmental officers,perhaps they should be allowed to carry out their duties and set them free of political interference!

[@brianpaullawrence7986]

So where are the police. Sat in the port playing cards when the spainish police keep entering British waters .sad

[@martynreed835]

They got some bloody cheek

[@7thdayfollowersofyahushuas571]

And we Gibraltarians want a deal? I prefer a No Deal..

[@englishdecorator]

Sounds like the treaty negotiations are going well...