The Romanian Coast Guard has fired warning shots at a Turkish boat which had apparently on a massive illegal fishing expedition in Romanian waters, according to a press statement.
The unnamed fishing vessel was spotted on Sunday evening about 48 miles off the coast of the Sfantu Gheorghe a port at the mouth of the Danube which flows into the Black Sea.
The boat initially ignored summons and the border guard then fired several warning shots.
“The Coast Guard made legal summons by radio and using visual and acoustic signals for the shop to stop,” but they were disregarded, a statement said
“We fired warning shots…there was no damage, and nobody was injured,” a statement said.
The Turkish fishing ship left the area, and the Romanian Coast Guard informed its Turkish counterparts of the incident with the view of applying sanctions.
Border police recovered 47 fishing nets which were 50 meters long, which are being assessed by the National Fishing Agency. It was unclear if there were any fish in the nets.
Romanian border police will file charges of illegal and unauthorized commercial fishing.
Romanian authorities say illegal fishing activity carried out by Turkish boats has increased in the last 20 years
