Coast Guard and Police Crack Down on Illegal Sea Water Collection

In the morning today, personnel from the Coast Guard and the State Police, as part of their surveillance and control activities to protect the marine ecosystem and the fishing industry, intercepted and identified two individuals who, equipped with plastic drums, were engaged in collecting sea water by filling barrels transported with the aid of motor pumps, in the Port of Torre del Greco and in the area of La Scala. The operation is the result of an intense and constant monitoring and investigation activity of the port area, already initiated during the previous days. Any illegal extraction activity was thus immediately stopped by the Coast Guard personnel on the spot, with the imposition of a pecuniary penalty, provided for by the Navigation Code, of about 2,000 euros per subject. The above activity adds to that which the Coast Guard of Torre del Greco had already carried out last month by stopping and fining an individual intent on extracting water from the port of Torre del Greco, water presumably used, in a manner not in accordance with the current sector regulations, in the retail sale chain of fishery products. Regarding this, it is reminded to all consumers that it is absolutely forbidden to sprinkle, with any type of water (and even more so with that taken from a port), the bivalve molluscs that are placed on the market, for the purpose of human consumption; the marketing of such products is possible only after undergoing a specific treatment at an authorized depuration center and/or after stabilization. Similarly, the use of sea water to defrost fishery products and even resell them as if they were fresh is prohibited. The activity to combat illegal fishing will continue in the coming days to ensure the safeguarding of fish species and the marine ecosystem, as well as the traceability of fishery products at all stages of marketing to guarantee the consumer.