Chinese fishing company fined for smuggling fish in Liberia

A fishmonger pulls tilefish for a buyer at the New Fulton Fish Market in New York on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018. Chinese fishing company Africa Zhong Sheng Hai has been fined US$50,000 by Liberia’s National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

JOHANNESBURG – Chinese fishing company Africa Zhong Sheng Hai has been fined US$50,000 by Liberia’s National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) for allegedly smuggling a whole consignment of fish.

In a statement, NaFAA said the company on June 8 secretly offloaded 132,277 tonnes  of fish products from vessel Fu Hai Yu 6666 at the China Union BMC Pier, at the Freeport of Monrovia without an import permit from the Fisheries Authority.

The revenue intake that should have been paid by the Chinese fishing company was not paid to the government as required, NaFAA said.

The fishing authority said the punitive action was a continuation of other measures it had taken against other illegal cold storage operations as part of an effort to regularise the status of foreign companies operating in Liberia.

– African News Agency (ANA)

Source: iol.co.za