|
FROM
CUBA
Cuban
authorities persecute private fishermen
ISLE OF YOUTH, November 18 (www.cubanet.org)
- Regional authorities are actively persecuting
private parties fishing on their own behalf
off the waters of the Isle of Youth, south
of Cuba.
Fisheries inspectors have repeatedly launched
raids at sea and on rivers, fining and confiscating
the catch of anyone caught fishing.
A six-year-old law in Cuba forbids most
fishing to private citizens, who nevertheless
feel they must do so to feed themselves.
"Thanks to the fish we catch, the family
can eat some good food," said Alberto
Jesús Matienzo, a fisherman in the
island's capital city of Nueva Gerona.
To date, inspectors have fined 80 of the
surreptitious fishermen, for a reported
total of 76,000 pesos, according to fisheries
control director Clemente Placeres.
|
