Falklands : Quark and Freiremar Case Adjourned for a Week
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 09.09.2005 (Article Archived on 23.09.2005)
The Quark Fishing Limited and Freiremar SA cases have reached the sentencing stage and fines were levied against both companies in Court this afternoon.
THE QUARK AND FREIREMAR CASE ADJOURNED FOR A WEEK
By J. Brock (FINN)
The Quark Fishing Limited and Freiremar SA cases have reached the sentencing stage and fines were levied against both companies in Court this afternoon. The case had been adjourned from Wednesday, 07 September due to the Defence wishing to take further instruction from Counsel in the UK. The advice dealt with the value of the over-catch.
The charge against Quark Fishing Ltd. in respect of a breach of a condition relating to the minimalisation of seabird mortality in the course of long-line fishing aboard the Long-liner, Jaqueline resulted in a £2,500.00 fine.
Mitigating factors included the observation that there was no damage to seabirds in the 2004 fishing season and that the Jaqueline had been fishing in South Georgia Waters for the past eight years.
According to Senior Magistrate, Mrs. Claire Faulds, this was not a case that could command the maximum £250,000.00 fine from the South Georgia Government. Neither, she added was it appropriate for a conditional discharge because a breach was evident. Thus, the £2,500.00 fine.
The case against Quark Fishing Limited and Freiremar SA regarding Quark as charterer and Freiremar as owner of the Long-liner, Isba Quinto in respect of a breach of a licence condition, which limited the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) to 300 tonnes, resulted in a £40,000.00 fine for both companies.
Senior Magistrate, Mrs. Claire Faulds did not accept that new weighing methods accounted for the additional amount of Tooth-fish aboard Isba Quinto. She went on to say that she was satisfied that there was an over-catch of the species. Continuing, she said that the Government of South Georgia had benefited from the sale of the excess Tooth-fish and this was taken into account. There was also no attempt to conceal the over-catch.
Costs were not awarded in this session due to further consultation with Defence Counsel in the UK. They will be dealt with next Friday at 1100.
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