CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Coast Guard interdicted five lanchas and seized 900 pounds of illegally caught fish in federal waters off southern Texas, Sunday.
Boat crews from Coast Guard Station South Padre Island and Coast Guard Cutter Edgar Culbertson, in coordination with Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi aircrews, located and stopped a total of 23 Mexican fishermen engaged in illegal fishing north of the Maritime Boundary Line.
After interdicting the lanchas, Coast Guard personnel seized 900 pounds of red snapper and shark, along with fishing gear and highflyers on board the vessels. Coast Guard crews detained the Mexican fishermen, brought them ashore, and transferred the detainees to U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel for further processing.
“Our Coast Guard crews remain committed to eliminating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in our nation's sovereign waters,” said Lt. Shane Gunderson, commanding officer, Station South Padre Island. “Through highly coordinated response efforts with our federal and state partners, we will continue to combat this environmental and economic threat.”
A lancha is a fishing boat used by Mexican fishermen that is approximately 20-30 feet long with a slender profile, having one outboard motor, and is capable of traveling at speeds exceeding 30 mph. Lanchas are frequently used to transport illegal narcotics to the U.S. and illegally fish in the United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone near the U.S./Mexico border in the Gulf of Mexico.
If you witness suspicious activity or illegal fishing in state waters (from land to 9 miles offshore), please contact “Operation Game Thief” at 1-800-792-GAME (4263). For all suspicious activity or illegal fishing occurring in federal waters (out to 200 miles offshore), please contact the U.S. Coast Guard at 361-939-0450.
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