- The performance took place 12 nautical miles from the coast
On March 4, the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard of Gipuzkoa intervened two longlines equipped with lights.
The performance was carried out at about 12 nautical miles from the coast, where two unmarked buoys were detected, each with a vertically heated longline, armed with numerous hooks and glowing beacons to attract as many prey as possible. Both fishing gears had a length of 300 m each.
With this performance, several live specimens could be released, among them 1 congrium and 4 Kolayo sharks, commonly known as blackthorns.
The longline is classified as a professional fishing craft, it is a gear composed of a main line or mother, from which bracelets or toes hang, to which the hooks are tied. There are different types, both vertical and horizontal, called “ball stone”, that along the mother line are arranged the necessary elements of anchorage and flotation that allow the hooks to be kept at the desired depth.
This professional fishing technique is carried out by means of buoys of red, orange or yellow color, provided with radar reflector and a mast of at least two meters in height, in which flags and lights are incorporated to make them visible both during the day and at night.
The aforementioned buoys must carry at all times, in their visible part, the registration plate and folio of the vessel to which they belong in addition to the initial fishing gear they support.
The use of longlines without light beacons is allowed in the field of professional fishing, being totally prohibited for recreational fishing.