Algerian waters being overfished by foreign vessels

El Watan says Algeria's water are being dangerously overfished, with shrimp and lobsters, formerly common, disappearing. In addition to the obvious (and big) problem of pollution, they blame large-scale industrial fishing by, in particular, Spanish vessels, using narrow-mesh nets that kill immature fish and protected species. Apparently, these pay 500,000 dinars for an annual permit to fish in Algerian territorial waters, and make it back in days. It also reports that quotas on how many fish of a given species can legally be caught are in practice not enforced, and that promised government subsidies intended to help Algerian fishermen are not being disbursed, or are being wasted on leisure boat owners.