2 vessels, one Spanish and one Cape Verdean, have been detained by the Moroccan coastguard after illegal fishing in Western Sahara.
According to several reports in Spanish and French media, the two vessels were taken in by Moroccan coastguard on 20 June 2009.
They were of Cape Verdean and Spanish origin.
According to reports in Spanish media, the vessel 'Nuevo Fransisco Javier', based on Arguineguin, Gran Canary Island, has 7 crew members from the Canary Islands and 2 Moroccans.
The Spanish vessel is fishing under a licence given through the Moroccan-European fisheries partnership cooperation, and they have to pay a fine before leaving. Newspaper 20 minutos mention the fine is at 20.000 euros. Their cargo is confiscated.
The Cape Verdean vessel, 'Martins Fonseca', had a crew of 17 members, all of Cape Verdean nationality, according to AFP.
They were stopped because they fished in a forbidden no-fish zone, according to a source in port of Dakhla that AFP spoke to.
After being stopped by the coastguard, they were taken to Dakhla port, where the two vessels and their crew currently are held.
The stories in Spanish/French media do not mention the fact that the EU-Moroccan fisheries agreement is inself illegal according to international law. Morocco has no right to issue fisheries licences in Western Sahara, which is under Moroccan occupation. Western Sahara is enlisted as an unresolved colonial question by the UN.
The former UN Under Secretary General for Legal Affairs, Mr. Hans Corell, has slammed the EU-Moroccan agreement as illegal. Read his opinion here.
Here is the EU Council's legal advice on fishing in occupied waters
Hans Corell criticizes EU fisheries in Western Sahara
The former Legal Counsel to the UN Security Counsel, Mr. Hans Corell, comments on the EU's fisheries activities in Western Sahara.
EU Court reaffirms position on Western Sahara
Polisario has a case, but it should be pursued when the time is right, Court implies.
European Parliament disregards Court and adopts Morocco fish deal
Notwithstanding four consecutive rulings of the EU's highest Court calling such a practice illegal, the European Parliament has just now voted in favour of the EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement that will be applied to the waters of occupied Western Sahara.