55 Fishermen Face Fine for Illegally Fishing in Gibraltar

Within three weeks the Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) has reported on 55 anglers who had been fishing illegally from Gibraltar’s beaches; all fisherman now face a fine, the Gibraltar Chronicle wrote today, adding that only three of them were locals.

"The operation comes against the background of concern among local amateur anglers about the impact on the natural environment of unregulated fishing by locals and Spaniards alike", the Chronicle wrote, adding that according to Gibraltar's seashore rules, dated 1968, fishing is prohibited from most of Gibraltar's beaches.

In April the Gibraltar Federation of Sea Anglers (GFSA) had gone public with its concerns regarding the lack of marine protection and fishing regulations despite 16 years of queries to the Government. In its campaign "Angling for Change" it argues that something has to be done immediately to avoid the "destruction and decimation of all marine life".

During talks in May Government had promised to work on respective laws for a legislation in autumn. As the relevant consultation paper had not been made public by the end of June as promised by Government, "Angling for Change" visited all political parties to present them with a petition signed by more than 2000 locals. At that time the Chronicle wrote that it understood that this paper "is being finalised but ... it had not yet been published". Today the newspaper wrote that Government "said it would issue a consultation paper shortly."