Spain demands French reason for boarding of trawlers

Press, 9 March 1984, Page 6

Spain demands French reason for boarding of trawlers

NZPA-Reuter Paris A French patrol boat’s arrest of two Spanish trawlers fishing illegally in European Economic Community waters, in which nine people were hurt, threatened seriously to damage Franco-Spanish relations yesterday. Spain -demanded an explanation within 24 hours and said that the incident in the Bay of Biscay could have serious repercussions for relations between the two countries. A French Government spokeswoman said that nine people on the trawlers had been hurt, two seriously, when the patrol boat had fired tear-gas grenades while trying to intercept the Basque vessels 100 nautical

miles off the French coast. Navy sources said that the patrol boat first had asked the trawlers to stop, and when they failed to do so had fired several warning machine-gun shots across their bows. The teargas had been fired on to the ships to put down the crews’ resistance to a French Navy boarding party, they said. A Spanish fishing radio station said in San Sebastian that some shipowners were proposing that the Basque fishing fleet should sail towards the French coast in a show of protest, but whether that was likely could not imemdiately be confirmed. The French External Relations Ministry said that it had summoned the Spanish Ambassador, Mr Joan Re-

ventos, and told him that it deplored the fact that in spite of repeated warnings to .Madrid the trawlers had been fishing illegally and had refused to submit to Navy controls. In Madrid, the Spanish Foreign Minister, Mr Fernando Moran, summoned the French Ambassador, Mr Pierre Guidoni, to demand an explanation. Officials said that he had told Mr Guidoni, “The lack of a (fishing) licence does not justify the use of arms against vessels from a friendly country.” A Foreign Ministry communique said: “The use of violence against the Spanish ships was an act that was very hard to justify and could have serious repercus-

sions in relations between Spain and France.” The French Secretariat of State for Marine Affairs said that the two crew members badly hurt by tear-gas grenades had been picked up by a French helicopter and taken ashore for treatment.

A spokeswoman said that the trawlers, the Burgomendi and the Valle de Achondo, were unlicenced to fish in the waters and had broken agreements between Spain and the European Community. “We are absolutely in the right over this,” she said. One vessel had fished illegally in the area 12 times and the other 10 times since the beginning of December, she said.