On May 21st, 2025, Ludovic Guennec, master of the French-registered fishing vessel the “Astrid”, appeared before Macroom District Court charged with failing to comply with the Landing Obligation under EU fisheries regulations. The offence involved the unlawful discarding of quota-regulated fish back into the sea. The violation was detected during an inspection conducted by officers aboard a European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) patrol vessel operating in Irish waters on May 18th, 2025.
The vessel had been detained at Castletownbere port in an operation by Sea-Fisheries Protection Officers of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA), EFCA inspectors and An Garda Síochána, pending the matter coming before the Court.
The Court heard that the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) directed that the case proceed by way of trial on indictment in the Circuit Court and consented to the master going forward to the Circuit Court on a signed guilty plea. The master was sent forward on a signed guilty plea to the charge, to the next sitting of Cork Circuit Criminal Court. The Court ordered that the vessel may be released from detention on condition that €75,000 be lodged, for the purposes of a bond, with the Courts Service.
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Further Information
About the SFPA
The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) is the independent statutory body responsible for the regulation of the sea-fisheries and the sea-food production sectors. It promotes compliance with the EU Common Fisheries Policy, sea-fisheries law and food safety law relating to fish and fish products, verifies compliance and, where necessary, enforces it. Its mandate covers all fishing vessels operating within Ireland’s 200-mile limit, over 2,000 Irish registered fishing vessels wherever they operate, and all seafood produced in Ireland’s seafood processing companies. The SFPA operates through a network of regional port offices situated at Ireland’s main fishery harbours. For further information visit: www.sfpa.ie