February 18, 2022News EditorLatest News,Oceans,RSSComments Offon U.S. Pressures Mexico to Curb Illegal Fishing of Gulf Waters

By Benjamin Seidman

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas, February 18, 2022 (ENS) –“They’ll come into U.S. waters, they’ll fish, they’ll grab as much snapper as they can and they’ll go head back south before we can detect ’em. The average catch they’ll have on board is 1,000 to 3,000 pounds of snapper,” commanding officer of Coast Guard Station South Padre Island, Lieutenant Commander Dan Ippolito told reporters last year.

The station plays a critical role in preventing threatened fish species from being poached by unregulated foreign fishing vessels along the U.S./Mexico maritime boundary line.

Mexican fishing vessels now are prohibited from landing in U.S. Gulf of Mexico ports in a U.S. government effort to pressure the Mexican government to take action against illegal Mexican fishing of prized…