The skipper of a fishing vessel has been fined €2,000 for contravening fisheries regulations, the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) says.
It says that the master of the previously registered fishing vessel, the Endeavour, pleaded guilty to charges for contraventions of sea-fisheries regulations at Dublin Circuit Court on November 19th.
It says that the case relates to infringements detected during a European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) patrol in February 2023 in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone during the course of an investigation by an SFPA officer.
“The master pleaded guilty to charges of fishing in excess of quota for Haddock, the provision of inaccurate information to an SFPA officer, mis-recording of catch data in the fishing logbook and landing declaration, and non-compliance with stowage plan rules,” the SFPA says.
“The court heard evidence that during the course of the at-sea inspection, an over-recording of boxes of sorted catches was detected along with an under-recording of boxes of haddock, which also had not been recorded in the stowage plan for the vessel,”it says.
“Evidence was given that the vessel had exceeded its quota for haddock a number of days prior to the inspection - however, the vessel continued to fish in the same fishing area and to catch haddock,” it says.
“The court finalised the matter by way of a fine on the master in the sum of €2,000,” it says.
Noting the court decision, SFPA executive chair Paschal Hayes said that “fishing in excess of quota threatens the sustainability of sea-fishing for fishing communities and undermines the future availability of stocks of fish species with adverse implications for marine ecosystems”.
“Accurate data from fishing vessels, as required under national and EU legislation, is essential to assess the health of fish stocks and to inform science-based sea-fisheries management decisions,” he said.
Hayes commended the officers involved in this investigation and the “effective cooperation” between the EFCA inspectors and SFPA officers that “led to this outcome”.
