Dan Ippolito, commanding officer of Coast Guard Station South Padre Island. The average catch they'll have on board is 1,000 to 3,000 pounds of snapper," says Lt. waters, they'll fish, they'll grab as much snapper as they can and they'll go head back south before we can detect 'em. Interdictions of illegal fishing boats have soared from nine seizures in 2010 to 148 incidents last year, with 547 Mexican fishermen detained and released without charges.Ĭoast Guard commanders, commercial fishermen, marine biologists and federal officials told NPR that the large-scale, illegal harvesting of red snapper is doing great harm to the Gulf of Mexico.
Scenes like this, captured on Coast Guard video, have become more and more common. The fishermen are handcuffed, their catch is confiscated and the boat is towed back to the Coast Guard station. Four Mexican fishermen tried to outrun it but thought better and throttled down. "United States Coast Guard! Stop your vessel! Stop your vessel!" yells a Coastie into his bullhorn as the 900-horsepower, fast-pursuit boat pulls alongside the Mexican lancha. Its chief enforcement activity entails bouncing across the swells of the Gulf of Mexico near lower Texas in pursuit of wily Mexican fishing boats filled with plump, rosy fish destined for seafood houses in Mexico City and Houston. Coast Guard on South Padre Island has a one-of-a-kind mission among the 197 stations along the nation's seacoasts. It has become a multimillion-dollar black market, a Mexican cartel is involved, Texas fishermen are outraged and the federal government can't seem to stop it. waters to illegally catch high-priced red snapper. For years, Mexican fisherman have crossed into U.S.