CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The U.S. Coast Guard detained four Mexican fishermen illegally fishing off the southern Texas coast Tuesday.
Cost Guard personnel seized 40 sharks in their possession and transferred the men to border enforcement agents for processing.
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The men had been fishing aboard a lancha approximately 7 miles north of the Maritime Boundary Line, the Cost Guard said in a release. A lancha is a slender fishing boat approximately 20-30 feet long. It has an 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, the Coas Guard said.
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 361-939-0450.