Italian fisherman fined €20,000 for unlicenced fishing in Maltese waters

An Italian fisherman who pleaded guilty to fishing in Maltese waters without a licence has been fined €20,000 this afternoon.

Leone Gassi, 47, from Foggia, who is the captain and owner of the vessel, was arraigned before magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras. 

Inspector Priscilla Caruana charged him with fishing in Maltese territorial waters without the necessary licence, not advising the authorities on the amount and species of fish aboard his boat before entering territorial waters, sailing without functioning VMS monitoring equipment, not keeping adequate logs and preventing officials from the fisheries department from carrying out their duties and refusing to comply with their lawful orders.

Lawyer Edric Micallef Figallo, for the fisheries department, presented reports on the incidents and the investigations carried out by the department. 800kg of fish had been confiscated, of which some 150kg were illegally caught in Maltese waters.

Gassi’s lawyer, Roberto Montalto, told the court that he had reached an out-of-court agreement with the department that only the fish, and not all the fishing equipment on board, were to be confiscated.

Micallef Figallo confirmed this, saying that that the department would be amenable to the imposition of a fine of €20,000 and the confiscation of the fish on board.

The magistrate upheld this request, ordering that the fine be paid before vessel is released and informing the accused that if the fine is not paid within thirty days, the vessel will not be returned.