Galapagos illegal fishing stopped

Naval authorities in Ecuador say they have captured a Costa Rican ship which was fishing illegally in a protected area around the Galapagos islands.

The director of the Galapagos National Park, Eliecer Cruz, told the BBC that the ship was found fishing about twenty miles north of the island of Darwin.

He said all industrial fishing is banned around the Galapagos -- one of the world's most important ecological sites -- but they often discover boats catching tuna and sharks in defiance of the ban.

The Galapagos archipielago, owned by Ecudaor, supports large numbers of unique animal and bird species

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service