MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands imposes heavy fine on Taiwanese jigger for ignoring licence conditions

Stanley, jiggers call in to collect their fishing licences (Photo: M. Short)

The Falkland Islands Magistrates court last week imposed a heavy fine on a Taiwanese company and the master of the vessel Hua Sheng 626 after admitting to a number of fishing offences, according to a report by Stacy Bragger’s from FIRS.

The Zhen Man Fishery Company and the master of the Hua Sheng 626, Hsiung Wu Sheng both pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to submit fish end reports and two counts of failing to give the Director of Fisheries 72 hours advance notice that the vessel was leaving Falklands’ waters.

At the court it was disclosed that the movements of the Hua Sheng vessel with a Falklands licence to catch squid had been monitored from the 31st March to 7th April by the Fisheries Department via the ship’s onboard vessel monitoring system.

“Over the seven nights, it was recorded leaving the Falklands zone and returning the following morning. On one night the vessel was recorded as being 14 nautical miles outside the Falklands zone”.

The Director of Fisheries had issued several warnings to the Taiwanese fleet that they were at risk of entering the waters of a neighbouring country.

When interviewed about the offences, the master of the vessel confirmed that he had understood the conditions of the vessel’s license and that he had received the warnings from the Director of Fisheries.

Hsiung Wu Sheng accepted that he had deliberately ignored the warnings and had deliberately left Falklands waters.

Mark Neeves, who was representing the company and the master, said that Mr Wu Sheng, as an experienced fisherman, had followed his instinct and went after the squid in order to catch them which he accepted, was wrong. Mr Neeves said that his client admitted that it had been a deliberate act.

Senior Magistrate Carl Gumsley, sentencing the Zhen Man Fishing Company and Mr Wu Sheng, said he was satisfied that the master was fully aware of the implications of the license conditions breaches but had chosen to ignore them.

However, Mr Gumsley did note the master’s co-operation with the authorities, the early guilty pleas and that neither the company nor the master had committed any offences previously.

The Senior Magistrate said that the offences had been deliberate, commercially motivated and repeated.

The company was fined a total of £44,000 with Mr Wu Sheng received fines totalling £1500. The company was also ordered to forfeit the 104 tonnes of squid that it had caught whilst breaking its license conditions. (FIRS)