British Navy Detains Spanish Trawler

A British navy vessel detained a Spanish trawler on Friday off the southwest coast of England on suspicion of illegal fishing, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

The naval vessel HMS Shetland, on a routine patrol, arrested the Chimbote southwest of the Isles of Scilly, the ministry said.

A ministry spokesman said the Chimbote may have been using undersize nets.

The trawler was being escorted to Plymouth on the south coast of England.

Fishermen are pressuring the government to withdraw from the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy. They fear that fish stocks are suffering because foreign boats disregard rules on net size to catch smaller fish.