Navy arrests two vessels for illegal fishing in Lagos

The arrested vessels

The Western Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy, on Thursday, revealed that its men have arrested two vessels, TAURARO and STAR-SHRIMPER 29 for illegal fishing activities along the Badagary axis of the Lagos waters.

In a statement signed on Thursday by the Commander, Command Information Officer, Western Naval Command, Patricia Ochei, the two fishing trawlers were arrested following the flag-off of the Exercise EJA Expression by the Command.

According to the Western Naval Command statement, “The flag off of Exercise EJA EXPRESSION may well be yielding positive results as the presence of Nigerian Navy ships at sea have continued to deter intending perpetrators and arrest of suspected maritime offenders.

“The Nigerian Navy Ship EKULU at about 0400 on Tuesday, 28 November 2023 while on patrol along the Badagary axis of Lagos intercepted and interrogated two suspicious fishing trawlers TAURARO and STARSHRIMPER 29.

“The vessels were subsequently boarded and confirmed to have large quantities of fish onboard in spite of their license to shrimp only.

“Recall that the Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command Rear Admiral Mustapha Bala Hassan recently flagged off Exercise EJA EXPRESSION which was aimed at honing personnel skills on how to curb economic crimes such as illegal fishing in our waters.

“The exercise was to practice personnel procedure and processes of enforcing fisheries laws in Nigeria’s maritime environment in order to ensure the fleet are better able to perform the responsibility of deterring IUU fishing and other illegalities.

“This is in line with the Chief of Naval Staff Strategic Directive towards, promoting effective Ocean and maritime governance for a thriving Blue Economy.

“Essentially, IUU fishing is a global problem that threatens ocean ecosystems and sustainable fishing. It also threatens our economic security and natural resources that are critical to global food security, while also putting legitimate businesses at risk.

“With the Blue Economy in mind, Admiral Hassan said that the Command and indeed the Nigerian Navy has zero tolerance for any form of illegality at sea and calls on perpetrators to desist from such acts as the Navy will not hesitate to go after them and see that they are prosecuted for their crimes.”

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