Navy defends role in 'tuna wars'

A ROYAL NAVY party boarded another Cornish trawler in the Bay of Biscay yesterday to check her tuna nets.

Naval officers acting as inspectors for the fisheries ministry declared that the nets of the Ben My Chree were within the EC's 2.5km limit and she was allowed to continue fishing.

Captain Chris Morrison, head of the fisheries protection squadron of HMS Angelsey and HMS Alderney, rejected accusations of harassment by the British trawlermen and said that his checks had helped to defuse tensions with Spanish fishermen.