Charitha’s licence suspended over suspicions of illegal fishing |15 December 2012

A communiqué from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Industry writes that the Seychelles Fishing Authority (SFA) was informed by the NDEA office on December 11, 2012 that there were a certain number of sea cucumbers on board Charitha.

Upon inspecting the vessel, SFA enforcement officers, in the presence of the skipper of Charitha, the police and NDEA officer counted a total of 1,562 sea cucumbers which on the local market can fetch an estimated R180,000.

Charitha did not possess a valid license to fish sea cucumbers and in such case, this is an offence under Section 19 A (1) of the Fisheries Act, adds the communiqué.

The SFA has sought a court order as per Section 23 of the Fisheries Act to confiscate the sea cucumbers.
Being a perishable sea resource, the sea cucumbers have been ordered to be sold as soon as possible through procedures set for such circumstance, and the sale proceed to be kept in a special account until the offenders are prosecuted by the court of justice.

In view of the nature of the offences committed by the Charitha, the SFA has also suspended its fishing license and the vessel will not be eligible to claim fuel concession under the fuel scheme for its last fishing trip.