Despite the risks, boxes upon boxes are unloaded from the trawler and carefully registered.

The men are happy with the catch, especially with this delicacy thes air, famous prime quality red prawns.

They don't come any larger.

The Mediterranean prawns air in great demand in fine restaurants around the world.

In good times, we earned €550 for a 12 kg carton of prime quality red prawns that works out is €45 per kilo.

Aboard this ship, the fishermen from Mazara del Vallo spend weeks out at sea for such a catch, sometimes even up to two months.

But they're taking a big risk.

The richest fishing grounds in the southern Mediterranean are off the Libyan coast in international waters, but Libya now claims them as territorial waters.

This has caused repeated conflicts like in the summer of 2018.

The Libyan navy wanted to stop the Italian fishermen and arrest the entire crew in September.

That's exactly what happened to Marco Moroni.

His two trawlers were impounded by Libya.

The ship owner is in despair.

His 18 crew members have been in a Benghazi jail for over three months.

Fishermen have never been held this long, not being able to see the ships, the men who work for me, that is awful.

It's like a son that you miss.

You could no longer hug.

During that confrontation, Libyan authorities pursued nine Italian trollers on the open sea.

Unlike some of his colleagues, Captain Giuseppe Giacalone managed to get away.

The Libyans came close, wanted to seize all the captains and the ship papers.

Trawlers were told to follow them, but we could flee, risking our lives.

The Coast Guard is armed.

They could have fired it.

US.

Which is back in 2018.

The fishermen received help.

Italy sent a naval helicopter toe aid.

The trollers.

The Libyan speedboat was forced to back off.

But now Italy no longer provides such protection in the southern Mediterranean off the Libyan coast, telling fishermen such operations air too, demanding on politically sensitive.

Now they fish at their own peril way.

Need protection so we can fish in these international waters.

Otherwise, what happened to the fishermen will happen again.

Way don't know.

The ship owner has even spent two months protesting outside the Italian parliament in Rome, calling for his crew and fish trawlers to be released way are at risk of being arrested 74 nautical miles off the coast.

Because Libya claims the open sea as its territorial waters, Europe and Italy must take action against this because this sea belongs to nobody alone.

It belongs to us all way.

That includes crew members like Mohammed.

He is one of six Tunisians who worked on the Italian trawlers who are now in jail in Benghazi.

Mohamed's family is worried about him.

In the past, he was already arrested twice by Libya, but this time it's worse, mhm.

In the past, we were always in contact Way, knew how he was doing.

His phone always worked.

This'll time.

We've not heard from him in months.

We have no idea what is going on, or even if he is still alive, even more toe whenever she can.

Mohammed's daughter, nor EZ, meets the families of other detained fishermen at the port of Mazara.

Here they stage protests with shipowner Marco Moroni to give each other hope.

No, we we're fighting for 18 Italian fishermen that includes six Tunisians to Senegalese and two Indonesians were all of them have lived here in Mazzara del Vallo for many years, some of them even before I was born.

For the families have no choice.

The hunt for the lucrative red Prinze must go on.

That is the only thing that makes the fishing industry in Mazara del Vallo profitable in international waters and that includes off Libya's coast.