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The Owner of the Tai An Fishing Vessel Managed to Pay a Lower Fine, and Illegal-Caught Patagonian Toothfish is Already Being Sold

ARGENTINA
Thursday, May 09, 2024, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

The following is an excerpt from an article published by Clarín:

The toothfish caught illegally by the Tai An fishing vessel will finally be released and marketed. The PRODESUR company has agreed to pay a fine equivalent to 30% of the value of the cargo and will be able to sell the merchandise to the international market, while specifying the payment plan in easy installments. In this way, the offending boat, whose history was known globally for fishing a protected species throughout the planet, can now return to the fishing zone.

Source: Clarín

Article 53 of the Fisheries Law says: “In cases in which the capture considered illegal is confiscated, it may be replaced by an amount in money equivalent to the market value of said catch at the time of the vessel's arrival at port. , as regulated by the enforcement authority.” But that is not what ultimately happened.

Source: Clarín -->

 The Ministry of Economy had reported that "of the 139 tons of seized toothfish, the fishing authority (Undersecretariat of Fisheries) ordered to replace it with an amount in money equivalent to the market value at the time of arrival at the port of the vessel in question." At that time, the amount was calculated at 2.5 billion pesos (USD 2.84 M). That money, once paid, was going to be deposited into the Fondo Nacional Pesquero (FONAPE).

The record, however, suggests otherwise. According to INIDEP, the capture was 175 tons. But also, according to INDEC data for the month of March, the average value of toothfish was 25,258 dollars per ton, which would bring the total amount to 3.51 million dollars. The 2.5 million dollars arise from 90 tons of final product that Prodesur would have obtained. It is clearly a lower value than what was declared on the surface. Prodesur, then, will be able to legally sell the burden of the controversy. Last weekend, photos of the unloading in the port of Ushuaia circulated.

According to what was published by the specialized magazine Puerto, “Liu Zhijiang, owner of Prodesur and the vessel Tai An, presented a note to the Undersecretary of Fisheries offering for the seized toothfish the payment of 30% of the assigned value and three installments of 30 ", 60 and 90 days to be able to market it in the foreign market and release the ship for dispatch."

For experts, this is an unusual proposal. But in any case, it was accepted by the Undersecretary of Fisheries Juan Antonio López Cazorla, who issued a letter to the Argentine Coast Guard to release the ship and to Customs for the free marketing of the toothfish caught a month ago. According to sector sources, there is no history of capture and return seizures due to the offender's purchase in the national fleet. Yes, however, it has been applied to foreign ships and for this the law specifically establishes that the total value of the merchandise must be paid so that the ship can be released. The same criterion has not been applied with the Tai An ship. [Continues...]

Author: Gonzalo Sánchez | Clarín | Read the full article by clicking the link here (only available in Spanish)

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