In one of Sweden’s largest fish poaching trials ever, nine fishermen have been fined between 340-7,000 euros for passing off cod as pollack to circumvent EU quotas. Seven others were acquitted, the court finding the ships’ commanders bearing the full responsibility for some 140 illegal landings of 109 tonnes of cod in 2005.
The value of the landings included in the indictment totalled almost € 186,100 and were made by nine boats in the West Coast county of Halland.
The prosecutor’s motion for the fishermen’s profits from selling the illegal catches to be forfeited was denied by the court, citing new legislating in the field.
The prosecutor said he had not decided yet whether to appeal the verdict.
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