Crackdown on poaching by Turkish fishing boats in Romanian coastal waters

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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AP Television Romanian coast, Black Sea - Recent 1. Romanian Coast guard ship sailing in Black Sea 2. Support helicopter flying over boat during operation 3. Aerial view of Romanian patrol boat 4. Close up of boats 5. Turkish fishing boat with illegal Romanian flag trying to escape 6. Romanian patrol boat captain with loudspeaker Romanian Coast Guard Video Romanian coast, Black Sea - 11 June 2007 7. Romanian border police firing guns to stop poacher's boat 8. Turkish poacher boat being hit from gunfire, flames flare on deck AP Television Romanian coast, Black Sea - Recent 9. Romanian border police untangling dead dolphin from confiscated illegal net 10. Dead dolphin and turbot (type of fish) on boat deck 11. Close up of turbot in illegal net 12. Close up of dead dolphin and illegal net used by poachers 13. Turkish poacher boat being escorted to shore 14. Close up of police boat 15. Turkish boat sailing along side patrol boat AP Television Constanta Harbour - Recent 16. Close up of border police boat 17. Boats belonging to arrested poachers docked in coast guard berths 18. Border police officer walking past seized boats AP Television Constanta Harbour - 19 June 2007 19. Poster at restaurant entrance reading: (English) "no FISH - NO meal" 20. Turbot being prepared and served in restaurant kitchen 21. SOUNDBITE: (Romanian) chef, name unknown "I love to cook turbot, it is really special and delicious." 22. Customers being served food 23. Exterior of Constanta Aquarium 24. People looking into aquarium tanks 25. Close-up of tank containing fish found in the Black Sea 26. SOUNDBITE: (Romanian) Professor Nicolae Papadopol, Black Sea environmentalist: "The illegal fishing by foreign boats is destroying the fine balance and efforts to rebuild the normal number of fish as well as alarming collateral damage in the destruction of the rare dolphin population of the Black Sea." 27. Turbot swimming in aquarium tank STORYLINE: An operation by the Romanian coastguard costing over 124 (m) US dollars has seen a crackdown on poaching by Turkish fishing boats in Romanian coastal waters. Reaching almost 30 US dollars per kilogramme in Istanbul, turbot and black sea shark are two kinds of fish particularly targeted by illegal fishermen. In recent weeks more than two thousand metres of illegal nets have been seized from Turkish poachers and destroyed. The Turkish boats use a number of tactics to evade capture, some raising the Romanian flag in order to blend in with native vessels. Border police work around the clock as a result of the operation to curb the illegal fishing and coastal patrols have resorted to firing their guns in attempts to halt fleeing boats. Romania has made huge efforts to protect the numbers of turbot and black sea sharks, now considered to be at levels above those of endangered species. In the last 50 years stocks were under threat due to industrialisation that damaged the coastal environment. One consequence of the illegal nets used by the poachers is the trapping and eventual suffocation of dolphins who also occupy the waters. "The illegal fishing by foreign boats is destroying the fine balance and efforts to rebuild the normal number of fish as well as alarming collateral damage in the destruction of the rare dolphin population of the Black Sea," said Professor Nicolae Papadopol a Black Sea environmentalist: Further funding for the coastguard operation is expected to come from the European Union since Romania became a member sate at the beginning of 2007. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/c9be0d49bc4ad9672e5d3a2b4bbf369c Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork