Ensenada, Baja California — A tuna vessel responsible for environmental damage off the coast of Baja California Sur has been seized. The seizure was made after federal authorities verified the death of numerous marine life due to an abandoned fishing net.
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Baja California Sur began the investigation after a legal complaint was filed by the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection in response to a report of the abandoned net in a Natural Protected Area.
The net was left abandoned in the lower part of Las Animas by the tuna boat after it became hung up in rocks. The government of Mexico verified the report using divers who located the net and found dead fish, turtles and marine mammals that had been caught in the net.
“When carrying out prospecting dives in order to find the net and assess the damage caused by it, in the area they found a person who is dedicated to fishing who indicated the place where the net was located, which confirmed the veracity of the facts,” they reported.
After verifying the damage, police were granted a search warrant for the tuna boat. They found it anchored in Ensenada and were able to positively identify it as the vessel that left the net.
Agents from the Federal Public Ministry and Federal Ministerial Police attached to the delegations in Baja California Sur and Baja California, with the support of elements of the Secretary of the Navy (SEMAR), PROFEPA, and CONAPESCA, secured the vessel and various objects related to the ongoing investigation.
