Fishing is open, but only to professionals, while illegal sea urchin harvesting is rampant.
The men of the Forestry Department of Luogosanto station discovered some unauthorized divers during a territorial control operation in Vignola (Aglientu). The rangers noticed a person who was hastily carrying a basket full of sea urchins from the beach towards the hinterland.
The rangers then intervened to check whether he, and some divers who were on the beach at the time, were fishing professionals and therefore regularly authorised to fish.
They were not: having verified that it was non-professional and therefore illegal fishing, the officers proceeded to identify them, to contest the violation, to seize the fishing gear (baskets, cups, cylinders and fins) and the catch which, still alive, was immediately released into the sea.
(Unioneonline/E.Fr.)
