News
Release
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U.S.
Coast Guard 8th District Public Affairs Detachment Texas
Ensign Kenneth Hawkins
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Coast Guard interdicts lancha crews illegally fishing US waters


CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Coast Guard law
enforcement crews detected and interdicted four Mexican lancha boat crews engaged
in illegal fishing of federal waters near southern Texas March 11, 2018 through
Tuesday.
Coast Guard crews stopped four lanchas with 20
Mexican fishermen engaged in illegal fishing. Four lancha boats, 100 red
snapper and fishing gear were seized. The Mexican fishermen were detained and
transferred to border enforcement agents for processing.
“Our crews do amazing work in some very hard
conditions ensuring this devastating illegal poaching by Mexican lancha crews
does not go unchallenged,” said Capt. Tony Hahn, Sector/Air Station Corpus
Christi commanding officer. “The Coast Guard will continue to challenge and
interdict all the detrimental poaching on our waters to stem the critical
depletion of our scarce fishery stocks.”
A lancha is a Mexican fishing boat that is
approximately 20-30 feet long with a slender profile, typically has 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 fish
illegally in the United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone near the U.S./Mexico
border in the Gulf of Mexico.
Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi has
detected 78 lanchas, 28 of which were interdicted, that were north of the
U.S./Mexico Maritime Border since October 2017.
If you witness suspicious activity or illegal
fishing in state waters (out to 9 miles offshore), please contact the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department’s “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
361-939-6393.
-USCG-