A Taiwanese boat has been boarded and inspected f or illegal fishing off the West coast of Madagascar by a patrol squad from the Centre of Surveillance of Fishing of this country, th e Indian Ocean Commission (COI) based in Mauritius said Wednesday.
According to the COI, it was during a regional surveillance mission when the pat rol team ”Atsantsa” surprised the ship ”Shun Feng” while it was fishing illegally last Friday.
The ship was escorted to the port of Tulear and handed to the Malagasy authoriti es.
”This ship had onboard 3.2 tonnes of fins from sharks fished illegally, corresp onding to about 65 tonnes of sharks captured illegally, which is a serious blow to the ‘halieutical species’ considered as endangered,” said the COI.
The value of the illegal cargo is estimated at nearly US$100,000..
The COI also stressed that the regional fishing surveillance plan in the South-W est of the Indian Ocean marked the willingness of the member states of the Indian Ocean Commission (Comoros, Reunion, Madagasca r, Mauritius, Seychelles) to fight against illegal fishing and to eradicate this scourge in their maritime areas, with the support of the European Union.
