CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Authorities say the Coast Guard has confiscated a Mexican fishing vessel after finding its crew illegally fishing off South Texas.

The Guard says the four-person crew had nearly 2,000 lbs. (907 kilograms) of fish, primarily red snapper, when it was stopped Thursday night.

The crew was transferred to the U.S. Border Patrol for enforcement action.

The crew was found in a lancha, a slender vessel usually about 30 feet (9 meters) long that's popular with Mexican fisherman.

Guard Cmdr. Keith Pierre in Corpus Christi says the volume of red snapper and other fish being poached in U.S. waters is having a "devastating environmental and economic impact."

Guard crews based in Corpus Christi have detected this year nearly 150 lanchas suspected of fishing illegally and stopped about 30 of them.