Nov 20, 2009
VICTORIA (Reuters) - The crew of a Spanish fishing boat freed by Somali pirates this week said they had been threatened with being shot during their near two month captivity.

"They had all kinds of guns, from pistols to Kalashnikovs. There were times when they would turn wild, firing volleys of bullets in the air," crew-member Wilson Pillate told reporters after arriving in the Seychelles.

"One day in particular they rounded all of us up. They said our days had ended and they would kill all of us."

The hijacking of the Alakrana and its 36 member crew by heavily-armed gunmen on October 2 was the latest disruption to the region's lucrative tuna industry.

European fishermen say catches in the northwestern Indian Ocean dwindled by as much as 30 percent last year and pirates continue to hinder access to some of the world's richest Yellowfin tuna waters, which lie off lawless Somalia.

Pirates say Spain paid a $3.5 million ransom. Previously, the gunmen had said the vessel would not be freed unless two suspected Somali gunmen captured by the Spanish navy near the tuna ship were released.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero says the government did "what it had to do" to get the Alakrana released.

Maritime attacks have surged in the area in recent months as the pirates extend their range, stretching the resources of foreign navies patrolling the waters off the Horn of Africa.

The tuna industry is worth up to $6 billion across the Indian Ocean region.