The Government seizes 8 kg of fish from a restaurant in Ibiza for illegal possession

These were four groupers, four sea bass and seven scorpion fish. The establishment did not have any kind of documentation to prove their traceability or origin.

The councillor Joan Simonet points out that ‘the main aim of these controls is to avoid unfair competition and protect the legitimate interests of the fishing sector and consumers’.

The Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment, through the fisheries inspection staff of the Directorate General of Fisheries, and together with the Ibiza Council, has filed a complaint against the managers of a restaurant in Ibiza for illegally possessing 8 kg of fish (groupers, corvinas and scorpion fish) that came from underwater fishing, which have been seized and destroyed.

Specifically, there were four groupers (all undersized), four corvina and seven scorpion fish. All of them clearly showed the wound caused by the speargun harpoon. In addition, the restaurant did not have any kind of documentation to prove its traceability or origin, so the product was immobilised and subsequently confiscated.

The councillor Joan Simonet expressed that ‘actions such as these demonstrate, once again, the Government's firm commitment to the fishing sector, to the defence of our professional fishermen’. Simonet explained that the action was carried out as part of a joint inspection by the Directorate General of Fisheries with the island councils of Ibiza and Formentera. In this sense, inspectors from the Govern travel to the Pitiusas to act in establishments where there are suspicions of alleged illegalities. ‘The main objective of these controls, in addition to ensuring compliance with regulations, is to prevent unfair competition and protect the legitimate interests of the sector and consumers,’ the minister stated.

The Agriculture, Fishing and Natural Environment Council is in charge of processing the complaint. According to Law 6/2013, of 7 November, on maritime fishing, shellfishing and aquaculture in the Balearic Islands, the possession and commercialisation of undersized fish from recreational fishing is a very serious offence and can be punished with a fine of up to 60,000 euros, in addition to the confiscation of the ware.