Spanish fishing captain returned for trial on 25 fishing offences in Irish waters

A Spanish fishing captain has been returned for trial by a judge and jury after being charged on Monday with 25 alleged breaches of European Union fishing regulations in Irish waters off the southwest coast.

Ramon Novo Martinez (57), Master of the Spanish owned but German registered Ortegall Tres, was brought before a special sitting of Bandon District Court following the detention of his vessel by the LÉ Samuel Beckett for alleged fishing offences in Irish waters.

Mr Martinez, with an address at Corosopalmeira, Riberia, La Coruna, Spain, was charged with a total of 25 fishing offences on various dates between a date unknown in December 2022 and February 3rd 2023 while fishing within the exclusive fishing limits of the State.

He was charged with four logbook offences of failing to record the proper depth at which his vessel was fishing and four offences of failing to record the proper soak times or times that he allowed his nets to stay in the water.

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Mr Martinez was also charged with a total of 17 separate offences for allowing his nets to exceed the permitted soak times of 72 hours allowed for the gear while fishing within the exclusive fishing limits of the State, contrary to Section 14 of the Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006.

Gda Geraldine O’Sullivan of Castletownbere Garda station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and told how she had arrested Mr Martinez at Deenish Pier, Castletownbere on February 13th and he made no reply to any of the 25 charges when they were put to him after caution.

Acting State Solicitor for West Cork, Jerry Healy, said that Gda O’Sullivan had served a book of evidence in the case on Mr Martinez outside court and that the DPP had directed trial by indictment. He was seeking a return to the current sittings of Cork Circuit Criminal Court on February 17th.

Mr Healy said the State had no objection to Mr Martinez being released on bail pending his trial, but he said that he was making two separate applications seeking to extend the detention of his vessel, Ortegal Tres at Castletownbere where she was moored since being escorted there by the Naval Service.

Mr Healy first applied to have the Ortegal Tres detained indefinitely at Castletownbere and he then applied to have it detained until a bond for €310,000 to cover the cost of the catch, gear, potential fines and legal costs, was lodged with the court by boat’s owners.

Mr Healy said this figure for the bond had been reached after the Sea Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) valued the catch at €122,000 and the gear at almost €29,000 while the balance of the bond was to cover €5,000 legal costs and potential fines if the accused was convicted of the offences.

Defence solicitor, Dermot Conway, said he was consenting in principle to the two applications, but he was not consenting to the specific terms, and he said that his client and the Spanish owners of the trawler strongly disputed the value of the catch, saying they estimated it to be worth €40,000.

He said that the European Court of Justice had ruled on a matter relating to the detention of another vessel in Irish waters for alleged fishing offences and had found that bonds must be proportionate to the possible penalties and value of catch and gear confiscated by the Irish authorities.

He said Mr Martinez would be arguing that a significant factor common to all the charges was that the winch aboard his vessel was broken and he could not haul his nets. “These are big nets, you cannot haul them out manually, you need your winch,” he said.

Mr Conway asked Judge James McNulty to moderate the value of the bond, saying a bond of €310,000 was more than the value of Mr Martinez’s vessel and if his client couldn’t meet the bond, he would surrender the catch to the SFPA who would then have to sell the catch or dispose of it.

Judge McNulty said that he would reduce the bond for the vessel to €100,000 which would allow the vessel return to sea with its catch but he would set a cash bond of €5,000 for Mr Martinez to be lodged with Clonakilty District Court Office to give him an incentive to turn up for his trial.

He granted an application by Mr Conway to allow Mr Martinez stay on board his boat rather than be held at Cork Prison until such time as his cash bond was lodged, given the boat would be detained until the €100,000 security for it was lodged.