Illegal Lobsters Intercepted
Police in Salinas on the coast of Ecuador arrested a Galapagos fisherman, Edison Martinez Meza with 234 rock lobster tails. Fishing Galapagos rock lobster is not currently allowed and among the tails seized were undersized ones and females with eggs whose capture is prohibited at all times. Martinez had travelled to the mainland on the tanker vessel Taurus. It is good to see the authorities catching and prosecuting people who rape the environment in this way, but the captain and crew of the vessel must have known the lobster tails were on board and they appear to have escaped prosecution.