Spanish Troops to Join Anti-Piracy Patrols Off Somalia

Lawmakers in Spain have voted to send about 400 troops to join anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia. The Spanish parliament approved the deployment on a vote of 311 to nothing Wednesday. Defense Minister Carme Chacon said the first 200 troops will leave for the Gulf of Aden on a frigate and supply vessel this Friday The Spanish troops will join the European Union force sent to protect ships against hijackings and attacks by Somali pirates.The International Maritime Bureau said Somali pirates attacked at least 111 ships last year, an increase of nearly 200 percent from 2007. The United States, China, and several other countries have also put ships on patrol in the Gulf of Aden and Somalia's Indian Ocean coast.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters

Somali pirates threaten Indian Ocean tuna industry
VICTORIA - Tuna catches in the southwestern Indian Ocean fell by as much as 30 percent last year as pirates blocked access to some of the world’s richest tuna waters off Somalia, fisheries experts say.
European fleets say the Somali pirates, who are better known for their audacious hijackings of commercial vessels including the Saudi supertanker, Sirius Star, threaten an industry worth up to $6 billion across the Indian Ocean region.
France and Spain, which both base fleets in the Seychelles, would expect to haul in nearly two-thirds of the year’s catch off Somalia between August and November, Alejandro Anganuzzi, head of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, told Reuters.
“Instead they had to look further east and probably caught 50 percent of what they would usually catch,” he said.
Some 50 trawlers use the capital Victoria’s port, through which up to 350,000 tonnes of tuna are handled each year. But catches have suffered for two consecutive years as stocks fall more..http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2009/January/international_January1166.xml&section=international&col=