Maritime Police Nab Illegal Italian Fishing Boat in Croatian Waters

Croatian Maritime Police have charged 5 Italian fisherman for illegally fishing in Croatian waters near the town of Novigrad in the north-western Adriatic.

The Croatian Maritime Police were tipped off at around 15:00 on Wednesday about an Italian fishing boat illegally fishing in Croatian territorial waters around 0.5 nautical miles off the coast from Novigrad. After catching up with the boat, the police escorted the Italian fishing boat into Umag port where investigations begun. After conducting an investigation it was established that the Italian fishing boat, which had with four Ramponi, illegally carried out fishing in territorial waters of the Republic of Croatia, with the crew catching around 152.4 kilograms of a variety of fish, crabs and mussels. Five Italian nationals, including the 52-year-old skipper of the vessel, and four fishermen aged 50, 43, 39 and 37 have been charged with offences against the Marine Fisheries Act.