Discovering an Illegal Driftnet in the Med

Last month the crew of Sea Shepherd Italy’s catamaran, the M/Y Conrad, spotted an illegal drift net off the coast of Sicily in the middle of the night and immediately alerted the Port Authority.

With its mesh of 43cm diagonal squares, the net ranks among the widest ones that Sea Shepherd has identified in recent years. This type of fishing gear has been banned in European countries since 2002 due to its devastating impact on protected species.

The retrieval operations began the following morning. Despite having the right equipment for the job, the Coast Guard took more than 8 hours to pull in the net, given its considerable size: 5 km long by 25 meters deep (an area the size of 17 football fields).

Unfortunately, none of the trapped animals were found alive.

The good news is that net will now no longer be allowed to illegally fish tuna or swordfish, or entangle other non-target marine wildlife like whales and sea turtles. All of this we have achieved because of your ongoing support.

Learn more about Operation Siso here: www.seashepherdglobal.org/our-campaigns/siso/
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Sea Shepherd is an international, non-profit marine conservation organization that engages in direct action campaigns to defend wildlife, and conserve and protect the world’s oceans from illegal exploitation and environmental destruction.

Learn more about us: www.seashepherdglobal.org/
Support our efforts: www.seashepherdglobal.org/donate/