Coast Guard Intercepts Illegal Fishing Vessels

The Icelandic Coast Guard has been pretty busy this autumn, having intercepted three trawlers engaging in illegal fishing in Icelandic waters in just the past week.

Vísir reports that the Coast Guard vessel Þór has intercepted three trawlers in the past week, one just north of the Westfjords yesterday morning. All three ships were engaging in illegal fishing and ordered back to port, where the police took over investigations.

The Icelandic Coast Guard says this has been a busy year for them, and have been involved in numerous projects.

These projects do not always entail stopping illegal fishing, either. Last September, the Coast Guard intercepted a ship conducting unauthorized undersea research sixty nautical miles northwest of the Ísafjarðardjúp fjord. This ship was not fishing, though, but was searching for wreckage at the bottom of the sea.

This search effort may have been connected to long-standing rumours of treasure on board some of the ships and submarines laying at the bottom of the Icelandic sea, but the intercepted ship’s captain has not made any statements to that effect.