MEXICO CITY, Mexico — Mexico is defending its fishermen as the U.S. government bans Mexican fishing vessels from entering U.S. ports on the Gulf of Mexico because of poaching. Mexico says the incursions are accidental.
The U.S. says Mexico has not done enough to prevent its boats from illegally fishing for red snapper in U.S. waters. Its port access ban was announced in January and took effect Monday.
Mexico’s top diplomat said Tuesday the incursions into U.S. waters were unintentional, saying it can be hard to locate the dividing line between the two countries’ territorial waters.
But the U.S. Coast Guard has apprehended many repeat offenders, with some Mexican fishermen having been caught over 20 times since 2014.
Back in 2021, NPR reported that the interception of illegal fishing boats rose from nine seizures in 2010 to 148 in 2020. According to the news outlet, at the time, 547 Mexican fishermen were detained and released without charges.
