Shipowner, Manuel Antonio Vidal Pego of Ribeira, Spain, was condemned by the Provincial Court of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria for fraud as a result of illegal fisheries within the convention area for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and concealing this fact—for economic benefit—during a significant trade transaction with a representative of Coast Line Marine Services LTD. The illegal fishing activity has been spotted by the Australian authorities.
Vidal Pego already has a history of illegal fisheries dating back to 2003, a time during which he was internationally condemned for IUU (Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated) fishing activities onboard ship ‘Viarsa’. The company he’s affiliated with has also been linked to receiving substantial EU- based public aid funding.
It has been reported that Spanish fishermen involved in illegal catches are receiving multi-million euro payouts from the EU fisheries subsidy system within the European Fisheries Fund (EFF). It is alleged that the Galician government specifically, provides subsidies to companies ‘closely linked’ to IUU fishing which further confounds the problem.
It is now widely known that the lack of transparency in the EU fisheries subsidy allocation in the European Union means that guesswork is required to know how much money has been spent and who has received funds. Spain is a huge benefactor of the EU subsidies, pocketing about 40% of all the payments. This situation is unacceptable and the Commission needs to reform the system under the proposed new European Maritime and Fisheries Fund—which will replace the current EFF—so that public funds are given out with accountability.
For the transgression, the sentence legislated by the Provincial court of Las Palmas required the incarceration of Vidal Pego for one year and eight months; in addition, for eight months of that sentence, the shipowner is required to pay a daily fine of 15 EUR (which totals about 3800 EUR). Coast Line Marine LTD, shall be compensated for loss and damages in the amount of USD 2.74 million, and 10% of that amount in lost profits.
For more information please see the links below.