Falklands : Esperanza Court Case Costs Dong Yang Fishing Company £65,000.00
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 06.09.2005 (Article Archived on 20.09.2005)
The Esperanza Court Case was opened and concluded on Monday, 05 September 2005
ESPERANZA COURT CASE
By J. Brock (FINN)
The court case concerning the Esperanza, a Korean trawler arrested for irregularities with reporting catch and by-catch commenced on Monday morning. The incident for which the trawler was arrested occurred on Monday, 29 August 2005 when the M/V Sigma, the Falkland Islands Fisheries Patrol Vessel, escorted the Korean Trawler, Esperanza into Stanley to help with enquiries.
On Monday, 05 September Master Kim Yeong, and representatives of Dong Yang fisheries Company Limited of Seoul Korea answered three charges that were brought against them as a result of last Monday’s incident. Two charges concerned the miss-reporting of Fisheries Data and one charge concerned the by-catch of an “unauthorised species.” The Esperanza was authorised to catch only Ray but a small by-catch, 10%, was also authorised under the licence.
According to a report on FIRS by Stacy Bragger, Mr. Yeong pleaded guilty to all three charges. The report continues that Ros Cheek, prosecuting, says that on the 26th of August the Fisheries patrol vessel, SIGMA, noticed four vessels and assumed they were fishing. When the SIGMA approached the vessels their speed increased. When the Fisheries Officer boarded the Esperanza an investigation was carried out. The vessel was only authorised to catch Ray fish with a 10% by-catch allowed. The trawler was found to be far in excess of this limit. When questioned, the Master stated there must have been a mistake in calculations made up by his crew. The hold inspection discovered amongst the catch of Ray was approximately 7 tonnes of Loligo Squid, which hadn’t been declared in the catch report given to the Fisheries Department. The value of the by-catch was estimated to be roughly £27,000.00
Richard Marlor, for the Defence, said that the offences were committed inadvertently by an inexperienced crew and this was the first charge that had been brought against Mr. Yeong and Dong Yang Fisheries Company in both the Falklands and around the world. Mr. Marlor said that significant mistakes had been made and there had been no deliberate attempt to conceal the excessive by-catch. Mr. Marlor also stated that the Company had suffered losses of £90,000.00 due to the vessel being idle, adding that the maximum fine for all three charges should be reserved for the worst offenders who conceal deliberately.
PM Session:
Sr. Magistrate, Claire Faulds, noted that Mr Yeong and the Dong Yang Fisheries Company had given full co-operation and had pleaded guilty at the earliest possible time. A fine of £65,000.00 was given to the Dong Yang Fisheries Company, which included legal costs and the value of the by-catch. Mr. Yeong was fined £2,500.00 and also had to pay legal costs of £500.00. It was also stated that the vessel would not be discharged until all fines were paid.
(Court Transcript by 100X Transcription and Monitoring Service)
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