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Greenpeace: Danish fish operations illegal

GILLELEJE, Denmark, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Environmentalists illegally put global positioning devices on Danish fishing boats to claim falsely the fishermen operate in banned waters, the fishermen said.

Greenpeace put GPS equipment on six fishing boats of fishermen from Gilleleje to track the boats' approximately 70 trips over the last six months in the area of the Kattegat Strait where fishing is prohibited, the Copenhagen Post reported Thursday.

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The region, which stretches to the Swedish coast, is a breeding ground for endangered Kattegat cod, the Post said.

Greenpeace's photos allegedly show trawls being used in the middle of the banned area, and the environmental organization said at least five boats systematically traveled at the low speeds customarily used for trawling for fish, the Post reported.

The fishermen said Greenpeace placed the GPS devices on the boats without their knowledge, and they said they did not fish illegally.

Official quotas show 197 tons of cod are caught each year in authorized areas in the Kattegat Strait, but Technical University of Denmark researchers said five times more cod vanish from the region than fishermen report they have caught.

Greenpeace said it will give its findings to the Fishing Directorate, requesting further action be taken.

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