Spanish fisherman fined for illegal fishing

Home

News

Local News

Written by Peter Tobin

Thursday, 19 May 2011

A Spanish fisherman appeared before Cork Circuit Court this week and ended up forfeiting the value of his catch, his gear and paying a fine. Mr Carlos Pereira Diaz, Master of the fishing vessel, the Armaven Dos, pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay a fine of €10,000 and forfeiture of the catch and gear which amounted to €30,000 following his conviction on fisheries charges.

The case arose following the detention of the fishing vessel in Castletownbere on the 14 March 2011 by Sea-Fisheries Protection Officers (SFPOs) of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA). The vessel was detained following a routine landing inspection where SFPOs discovered under-recorded quantities of monkfish in the vessel’s EU logbook and hold. A total of 225 boxes of monkfish were discovered when only 94 boxes were recorded in the fishing logbook.

The under-recording of catch is contrary to European Commission Regulations and under EC Regulation, fishermen are required to keep an accurate record in the vessel’s logbook of the fish they have onboard so that fisheries scientists can make accurate estimates of the state of the fish stocks and to ensure that the catch limits imposed to protect these fish stocks are respected.

Peter Whelan, Chairman of the SFPA welcomed the outcome of the case and said: “The valuable fish stocks around Ireland need protection from over-exploitation by a certain minority who chose to circumvent the legislation for personal gain and to take unfair commercial advantage over their fellow fishermen. The SFPA, in cooperation with the Naval Service, work hard to detect cases of illegal fishing to ensure that fish continue to make a vital contribution to the Irish economy on a sustainable basis.”

Comments (0) »