May 24 - Conch Rake Fishing Must Be 'Nipped in the Bud' Says GONHS

Written by YGTV Team on 24 May 2016.

The Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society (GONHS) has said that conch rake fishing has recently taken place in Gibraltar waters, mainly on the Eastern side close to the shoreline, “without any apparent action by the authorities, despite the considerable maritime assets available to the RGP and the Department of the Environment.”

The group says that, aside from the political importance of having Gibraltar's nature protection laws respected within British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, people “must also remember why these laws are in place.”

A statement continued: “Conch rake-fishing doesn't just remove the target species for your dinner-plate. The rakes indiscriminately remove everything in their path; destroying the important seabed habitat which the local abundance and biodiversity of our waters depend on. We must nip this practice in the bud before it can do any further damage.

“GONHS once again points out that the raking of the seabed to catch any marine creature is illegal under Section 10 (1) (ba) of the Nature Protection Act 1991.

“GONHS wishes to see the law to be upheld robustly and not flouted with impunity as is currently the case.”