The Spanish Fishing Confederation (Cepesca) is demanding action on the fraudulent trade of bluefin tuna.
Cepesca is urging the courts to rule on seven possible crimes relating to the alleged laundering of illegal catches by eight individuals and twelve companies.
In 2018, a Civil Guard investigation, codenamed ‘Tarantelo’, revealed a network importing more than 3,500 tonnes of illegal bluefin tuna into the country each year, mainly from Malta and Italy, generating illegal profits of around €25 million.
Cepesca says that improvements in the management of International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas over the past 12 years have allowed the Spanish authorities to uncover this major scheme of allegedly illegal catch laundering and fraudulent trade.
The courts have ruled that the facts established during that investigation may constitute up to seven crimes and now Cepesca is pushing for a ruling.
The magistrate of the Central Court of Instruction No. 3 of Madrid, María Tardón Olmos, has proposed ‘to proceed with the present investigation by means of the abbreviated procedure’.
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas has called for ‘respect’ and ‘vigour’ in the investigation, stating that ‘this type of behaviour is not the reality of the entirety of our fishing sector, which, on the contrary, respects the law’.
