Spain widens fishing ban in wake of oil spill
Date: 26-Nov-02
Country: SPAIN
Officials extended a ban on fishing to an area covering a 555-km (344-mile) stretch of the west coast, where some 7,000 fishermen have been out of work since the Prestige broke apart in rough seas, spilling part of its 77,000 tonnes of fuel oil.
Previously 500 kms had been off limits to Galicia's most important industry.
With oil pollution spreading east and south, French and Dutch ships yesterday went back to work sucking up some of the estimated 10,000 tonnes of fuel oil that poured into the sea when the 26-year-old tanker went down last Tuesday.
The French ship Aliette, working on the main slick 135 kms out to sea, sucked up 350 tonnes of fuel oil. Vacuuming work at sea had been prevented until the weekend by strong winds and huge Atlantic waves.
The Aliette and the Dutch ship Rijn Delta were to be joined yesterday or Tuesday by cleanup ships from Germany, Britain, Belgium and another from the Netherlands.
In Spain's southernmost province Andalusia, a local environmental official said 50 oil-covered birds had been found dead on the coast near a national park.
A spokesman for ecology group Adena also said the spill had crept its way into Asturias, which neighbours Galicia to the east along the Bay of Biscay.
Work on land also continued with 900 people working on 141 beaches raising the total amount of oil scraped off Galicia's coasts to nearly 1,500 tonnes.
Opposition politicians attacked the government for incompetence in its handling of the disaster and called for an investigation.
"We have seen a lack of coordination, a lack of resources, an absence of initiatives, contradictions and a group of government members seeking scapegoats," Jose Blanco, one of the Socialist Party's main spokesmen, told reporters.