Court / Gill netter Pesorsa Dos fined at Irish court
THE SKIPPER of German-registered/Spanish owned gill netter Pesorsa Dos has been fined almost £100,000 (115,000 euros) by an Irish court for breaches of fisheries regulations.
Juan Pablo Docal Rubido pleaded guilty to charges of failing to remove fishing nets after 72 hours, and failing to accurately record the time fishing gear was set in the water.
Cork Circuit Court also heard this week how Pesorsa Dos’ boarding ladder broke when inspectors attempted to board the vessel off the Irish coast in January 2023. The skipper was fined 10,000 euros for the failure to provide safe access.
The Pesorsa Dos, and more generally the fleet of foreign owned gill netters operating in Shetland waters, have been of serious concern to the industry and local politicians for a long time.
In June 2020, the Pesorsa Dos was filmed allegedly attempting to run a rope through the propeller of local whitefish trawler Alison Kay, 30 miles west of the isles.
Fishermen post shocking video footage of ‘intolerable’ behaviour
While the incident was reported to the authorities in the UK at the time, neither Marine Scotland (now the Marine Directorate) nor the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said they had the powers to investigate and take action.
However, the Scottish industry took note when the Irish navy detained the Pesorsa Dos in January last year for alleged fishing offences.
The Irish Sea Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) has now released details of a total of six separate fisheries cases heard at Cork Circuit Court this week, including that of the Pesorsa Dos and her skipper.
The court heard evidence of how the 72 hour limit for gill nets is a conservation measure in order to prevent fishing activity having an overly adverse impact on certain fisheries.
The court was also told how the naval service officer had to be pulled on board by the master of Pesorsa Dos after the boarding ladder broke.
In total, the court imposed fines and forfeiture worth almost £470,000 (562,500 euros) in six different cases, including for illegal use of fishing gear, unauthorised fishing in territorial waters, under-recording of catch, illegal set-up of grading equipment as well as fishing gear offences.
The SFPA’s chief executive Paschal Hayes said: “Breaches of sea-fisheries law undermine the sustainability of valuable fish stocks and the livelihoods dependent on them.
“The court’s rulings in these cases serve as a deterrent to others, and promotes compliance with the regulations, across the fishing vessels operating off our coast.”
The SFPA’s mandate covers all fishing vessels operating within Ireland’s 200-mile limit, over 2,000 Irish registered fishing vessels wherever they operate, and all seafood produced in Ireland’s seafood processing companies.
Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael said the Irish courts are “right to describe cases like this as a deterrent”.
“It is just a shame that Scottish and UK agencies who are responsible for protecting Scottish stocks and seafarers seem to lack any curiosity about what this boat does in our waters,” he added.
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