Fisheries Minister Musa Drammeh, acting under the powers conferred on him by the Fisheries Act, slammed the fines on 23 June 2023 following a consultative committee meeting to examine the nature of the offences committed by the vessels.
In June, Hon. Drammeh approved the consultative committee’s meeting and the recommendations of the committee were sent to him; reviewed the same and then imposed administrative fines per the Fisheries Act.
The vessels arrested and fined were Al Sidrah, Sama Ans El, Alfarouq, Zherui, Majilac 5, Majilac 6, Fengkai 011, Superfly 01 and Superfly 04. The vessels were further issued with warning letters.
Meanwhile, the consultative committee deferred the cases of Superfly 2 and 3, pending the conclusion of an enquiry into their cases on suspicion of pollution.
Al Sidrah, Alfaroug and Sama Ans El as first offenders were each fined D750,000.00 and issued warning letters. Majilac 5, Majilac 6, Superfly 01 and Superfly 04 were each fined D1m and issued warning letters. A D1.5m fine was imposed on Fengkai 011 while GMD 5,000,000.00 fine was slammed on Zherui.
The Fisheries minister has already sent a letter to the director of Fisheries for further action.
According to Section 97 subsections 3 and 4 of the Fisheries Act, any vessel involved in infringement can opt for a court or out-of-court settlement within 30 days.
The defaulted fishing companies chose to settle the matter out of court.
