Sri Lankan national fined $27,000 for illegal fishing in Seychelles

August 05-  The Supreme Court of Seychelles has fined a Sri Lankan national SCR400,000 ($27,000) for fishing in the island nation's territorial waters without a foreign fishing vessel licence.

According to the court report, Mawalla Kattadilage Padmasiri, 58, skipper of the vessel Sampath 16 and his crew, were caught on June 9. The vessel was approximately 94 nautical miles southeast of Mahe, the main island in the Seychelles' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The fishing vessel is not licensed nor authorised to fish in the Seychelles' waters.

In his ruling on July 29, the presiding judge, Brassel Adeline, said, "The fact that the accused/convict pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity, that in itself is a mitigating factor that cannot be ignored and its consideration necessitates a departure from the minimum mandatory sentence towards a lesser sentence."

The judge also ordered that the proceeds of the sale of the frozen sharks, the shark fins, the sailfish, and mixed demersal fish are forfeited to Seychelles.

Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, has an Exclusive Economic Zone of 1.4 million square kilometres, making surveillance of illegal maritime activities challenging.

The island nation has stepped up efforts to combat illicit drug trafficking and illegal fishing in its waters and as part of the measures, the SDF assets are continuously involved in regional operations with partner countries and organisations.