Boats from Luarca, Asturias, find more wipes and waste than fish when they go fishing. The fishermen report that they have been going to sea for two weeks and found that their fishing nets are abandoned. tangled in a tangle of towelsa situation that makes it difficult to land fish.
“We bring monkfish or hake, but there is more waste in the sea than almost fish,” criticizes sailor Javier Pérez. In total, they have been living in this situation for 15 days and have asked the authorities to investigate whether the Navia-Coaña sewage treatment plant is failing or whether it is a company that carry out illegal discharges.
Manuel Jesús Iglesias, boss of Luarca, explains how this affects them. “We sell quality proteins. We cannot sell that and let the sea be like that,” he laments. The nets arrive every day unusable because it is impossible to untangle all the wipes.
Carlota Iglesias, who works at the fish market, explains that boats deposit the tangled gear in containers for send them to an authorized official. For a fisherman, replacing all those nets can mean an expense of up to 3000 euros. For its part, the Principality affirms that the purifiers are working and indicates that it will take samples of wipes to see where they come from.
