A Chinese trawler operating in Ghana has been fined some $1million, here’s why

October 15, 2019 1:18 PM

The government of Ghana has fined Lu Rong Yuan Yu 956, a Chinese trawler operating in the country some $1 million.

A Chinese trawler operating in Ghana has been fined some $1million, here’s why

This follows when the trawler was apprehended at sea having caught at least 13.9 tonnes of small pelagic fish in a single day, a significant proportion of which were undersized juveniles.

These fishes were caught using nets with a mesh size below the legal limit.

The Marine Police brought charges against the Chinese Captain, Chief Engineer and Second officer, and two Ghanaian crew members, after detaining the vessel on June 16, 2019.

The owner of the vessel agreed to pay a fine of $1 million after appearing before an out-of-court settlement committee set by the government.

The move is a statutory minimum fine under Ghana’s 2014 Fisheries Amendment Act.

However, this is the first time that it has been imposed on an industrial trawl vessel, and since the Act came into force.