A Spanish trawler skipper was fined €15,000 and had his catch and gear worth over €80,000 confiscated yesterday after he pleaded guilty to a breach of EU fishing regulations in Irish waters at the weekend.
Alberto Quiroga Soage (34) pleaded guilty in Cork Circuit Criminal Court to keeping a net prohibited under the fishing regulations on board his vessel, the Olemara, when it was inspected by the Irish Naval Service in Dingle Bay on June 13th.
Mr Don McCarthy, prosecuting, said that naval personnel from the LE Orla found a net on board the Olemara with a smaller mesh than is permitted in Irish waters.
Mr McCarthy said that Soage had told the naval officers that he had not used the net in Irish waters, but that it was permitted in French waters, and that he was planning to depart for French waters when he was finished fishing in Irish waters.
While the net was legal in French waters, it nonetheless remained an offence to have it on board the vessel in Irish waters, and the maximum penalty for the offence was €127,000, along with the mandatory confiscation of the gear and catch, Mr McCarthy said.
Soage's solicitor, Mr Dermot Conway, said that his client had qualified as a skipper just a year ago and it was only his second ever fishing trip in command of the vessel and the first time that he had come into Irish waters.
Mr Conway said that the Olemara had quota and licences to fish in both Irish and French waters. Soage had intended going there to fish after he unloaded his catch of €23,000 worth of fish in Dingle.
He was by law obliged to notify the Sea Fisheries Protection Officer in Dingle when he was landing his fish to allow him inspect the catch, and the boat and he had already done that so there was no question of him trying to deceive the authorities.
Mr Conway added that Soage had already suffered through the confiscation of his fishing gear, which was worth €60,000, and his catch.