Turbot wars
Turbot warsTurbot wars
On March 9, 1995 Canadian Patrol boats shot warning signals across the Spanish Trawler, the Estai, while it was over fishing in international waters just outside Canada’s legal 200 mile limit. As a result Canada seized the ship. Many thought that Canada was not justified in its actions, however when one examines all the evidence it becomes clear that Canada was indeed justified against the Estai. The Spanish fishermen were fishing out of bounds, they were over fishing turbot that were still immature, and the Spanish were also using illegal nets to catch the turbot.One of the main reasons that the Spanish trawler was taken charge over was because, since the spring of ’94 one of the Canadian fishing laws states that any vessel suspected of over fishing outside the 200-mile limit would be seized, “if they are fishing in the nose or tail there won’t be any negotiations and we will taken enforcement actions”. The Estai was fishing just 400-kilometers from the Canadian coast. Many people felt “it was strange that the only there was any fish left off our coast was beyond the 200-mile limit”. One imperticular person who felt like this was fishing minister Brian Tobin.
While the Spanish were fishing out of bounds there were also fish turbot that was immature. It was proven that Canada claimed that 79 percent of the turbot aboard the Estai were being illegally caught and undersized fish. Evidence that the Estai had netted immature turbot were for smaller then any regulation permits prompted the Newfoundland Premier Clyde wells to brand the vessel’s crew as “environmental criminals”....
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