A French fishing vessel was seized in Castletownbere with its captain and crew detained after fish waste was dumped into the sea.

Judge Joanne Carroll issued a court order at Bandon District Court on October 16th to detain captain and crew of the Puenteareas Uno, registered in France, under the Maritime Safety Act 2005.

The ship’s Spanish captain, aged in his 50s, appeared before Bandon District Court on October 17th over an alleged offence of failing to retain quota fish species onboard. The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority seized the ship because it contravened its landing obligation.

A spokesperson for Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority said the alleged offence had been detected on October 15th during an at-sea inspection of the vessel alongside inspectors attached to the European Fisheries Control Agency.

The fishing master was served with the Book of Evidence at Bandon District Court and sent forward for trial to the next sitting of Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The court ordered that the vessel may be released from detention if a cash lodgement in the sum of €130,000 is made for the purposes of a bond. The bond has been taken up and the vessel released from detention.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.