Three illegal fishermen were arrested during a joint patrol by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Mexican authorities at Arrecife Alacranes National Park on March 4, 2026. The operation targeted poaching of protected pink conch in the Gulf of Mexico. Authorities seized the vessel, fishing gear, and recovered conch specimens from the suspects.
On March 4, 2026, a joint patrol involving Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the Mexican Navy (SEMAR), the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), the Federal Attorney General’s Office for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA), and the National Commission of Aquaculture and Fisheries (CONAPESCA) intercepted an illegal fishing vessel at Arrecife Alacranes National Park, also known as Scorpion Reef, off the coast of Yucatan in the Gulf of Mexico.
The patrol began with early morning drone flights and surface searches across the reef system, but no vessels were initially located. After returning to the Sea Shepherd vessel Sharkwater, authorities spotted a panga operating inside the protected area. A Sea Shepherd fast boat and two SEMAR patrol boats pursued the vessel. During the chase, the fishermen threw a bag overboard, believed to contain illegally harvested pink conch.
SEMAR stopped the panga, which carried three fishermen with no fishing licenses. An inspection revealed scuba gear, including diving suits, fins, snorkels, masks, hooks, drilling tools, screwdrivers, and a dive compressor—equipment used for harvesting conch from reef areas. Authorities recovered nine conch shells, one containing pink conch, and seven pieces of raw, eviscerated fresh conch meat.
The three suspects were detained by SEMAR and transported to Isla Pérez for processing by SEMAR, PROFEPA, CONANP, and CONAPESCA. The panga was towed there and later confiscated. The fishermen were taken to Progreso, where charges were filed with the Attorney General’s Office for illegal fishing in the protected reef.
Arrecife Alacranes serves as a sanctuary and breeding ground for the Caribbean queen conch (Lobatus gigas), a species banned from extraction since 1988 due to overexploitation and listed in Appendix II of CITES. Illegal fishing threatens the reef's ecosystem, with past interceptions yielding over 600 kilograms of conch meat. These patrols aim to enforce environmental laws and protect marine biodiversity in Mexico’s remote reefs.
