A Spanish fishing master was fined €10,000 and ordered forfeiture of €35,000 from the value of the catch and gear onboard a French registered fishing vessel at a court hearing earlier this week.
The Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) says the Spanish skipper of the French registered fishing vessel Puenteareas Uno was represented at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on November 25th, where his guilty plea was confirmed.
He pleaded guilty to charges of failing to retain catches of sea-fish subject to quotas onboard the vessel which is in contravention of the Landing Obligation rules, it says.
The charges arose from an inspection by officers attached to the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) patrol vessel Ocean Guardian in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone on October 15th this year.
This led to the detention of the vessel at Castletownbere port. The detention was coordinated by officers onboard the Ocean Guardian, SFPA officers and An Garda Síochána.
The court heard that during the course of an inspection onboard the vessel, officers witnessed crew members discarding fish species back into the sea via a discards belt, the SFPA says.
In giving its decision, the court remarked that operators and masters must comply with the sea-fishing regulations, it says.
SFPA executive chair Paschal Hayes noted the “seriousness attached to the contravention of the Landing Obligation rules”.
“The Landing Obligation rules are key to supporting the sustainability of stocks of quota species and future sea-fishing activity,”he said.
“Failure to comply with the Landing Obligation rules, by engaging in illegal discarding, undermines the sustainability of sea-fisheries,”he said.
He commended all officers involved in the investigation and the co-operation between the EFCA, SFPA and An Garda Síochána.”
