Last weekend, while monitoring Perez Island off the Yucatan coast, Sea Shepherd crew detected a target on radar approximately 3.5 miles from the island, inside National Park Alacranes (Scorpion) Reef. Sea Shepherd launched a drone and documented long lines in the water, as well as crew on the vessel attempting to conceal a compressor and wetsuits below deck while cleaning the decks.
The vessel was boarded by Mexican law enforcement. The fishermen were unable to show any permits for entry into the reef or permission to fish.
Authorities identified a compressor, dive suits, and a speargun on board. The vessel and its crew were detained and taken back to Perez Island and afterwards to the nearest port in Progreso, Yucatan, where they were processed and fined.
Scorpion Reef is a marine protected area and one of the most important coral reef systems in the Gulf of Mexico, supporting sea turtles, reef fish, and seabird colonies, among other key species. Illegal fishing inside the reef puts that entire system at risk.
This work builds on the same permanent presence model first proven in the Vaquita Refuge in the Upper Gulf of California, where sustained patrols and real time response have driven illegal activity down by removing the opportunity to operate undetected.
