Spanish fishing vessel intercepted off Europa Point while fishing illegally

During a routine patrol of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters at around 10.15am, officers spotted the Spanish commercial fishing vessel La Rapida using longlines roughly 500 metres off the coast. Patrol staff watched as the crew caught and landed three skates, a species explicitly protected under the Nature Protection Act 1991.

When officers instructed vessel owner Leoncio Fernandez to return the skates to the sea and warned him that fishing without a permit was prohibited, he refused to cooperate. Officials subsequently reported him for fishing in territorial waters without a valid permit and for landing a protected species.

Following the reporting process, Fernandez turned verbally abusive and threatened the patrol officers. Environmental protection officers escorted the vessel out of Gibraltar waters, confirming before departure that the caught skates were never returned to the sea as required.