Skipper fined €14,000 for illegal fishing off Donegal

The master of a German-registered, Spanish-based fishing vessel has been fined €14,000 for illegal fishing actives in waters off Donegal,

Angel Ares Esteban was not present when his case was heard by Judge John Aylmer at Donegal Circuit Court.

Esteban was charged with exceeding permitted gear soak times of 72 hours for fishing gears, contrary to Regulation (EU) 1241/2019, SI 520/2019 and S. 14 of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006.

Officers from the Irish Naval Service, off LÉ William Butler Yeats, boarded the Pesorsa Dos, a 27-metre vessel, and carried out a routine inspection on July 16, 2020. After making some detections on board, officers escorted the Pesorsa Dos back to Killybegs, where it was detained.

A sea fisheries officer, who is based in Killybegs, told the court that the boat was fishing for monkfish and whitefish off Killybegs and deployed static fishing, otherwise referred to as tangle nets, which can measure up to 10km in length.

The court heard that the combined length of nets on this vessel was over 100km. There were 2,000 tangle nets on the boat, five of which were the subject of the prosecution.

The soak time — the time the vessel leaves nets in the water — as required by EU law is 72 hours.

The sea fisheries officer told the court that the 72-hour restriction is very important due to possible environmental factors. 

One of the nets was in the water for 122 hours and 48 minutes; another net was in the water for 114 hours and 16 minutes; a third net was in for 104 hours and nine minutes; a further net was in the water for 97 hours and 31 minutes; and a fifth was in for 89 hours and 46 minutes. 

Esteban entered a guilty plea in respect of the charge in March 2022.

Catch to the value of €44,518 and gear valued at €15,000 were seized. 

The sea fishing officer giving evidence told the court that such waters as those being fished by the Pesorsa Dos were under threat and the regulations were in place to protect species and to bring up the number of fish. These stipulations, he said, must be adhered to by fishing fleets. 

Esteban has a previous conviction, dating back to 2007 at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, for failing to record the number of fleets deployed. At that time, he was fined €5,000 with forfeiture of €29,000 worth of fish and €15,000 of equipment.

Mr Conway told the court that his client cited bad weather for delaying the operations on the date in question. The vessel was, he said, constantly hauling and shooting. He said Esteban entered a guilty plea from the very start of the case. 

A €100,000 cash bond was lodged to the court at the time of the detention of the vessel. 

Esteban has since retired and his solicitor said the chances of him reoffending were “zero”. There was agreed forfeiture of gear and catch amounting to €35,000, Mr Conway said.

Judge Aylmer said the previous conviction for a fisheries offence was an aggravating factor in the case. However, he said the previous offence was “relatively a much less serious matter”.

“This is a serious offence, having regard to the potential for very adverse impact on the fishing habitat which was being fished over by the accused,” Judge Aylmer said. “This was described as what could be considered as a reserve area. This has a potentially very destructive effect and hence there is a limitation to 72 hours of such fishing. I am told that Irish boats normally fish outside of this area in order to avoid the types of negative environmental impact on the habitat”.

Judge Aylmer said he noted an excuse of bad weather that was put forward by the defending solicitor, but said that modern forecasting over a period of 72 hours tended to be very accurate.

He said: “That excuse does not appear to the court to hold much weight.”

Noting the agreed forfeiture of €35,000, Judge Aylmer said that a headline penalty of a €20,000 fine was his starting point for sentencing. 

In mitigation, he said Esteban was fully co-operative and followed with a plea of guilty. He said Esteban had not come to adverse attention in the 13 years since the commission of the last offence.

Judge Aylmer reduced the fine to one of €14,000. This was to be taken off the €100,000 bond lodged in court with the balance returned to Esteban.