The High Court today ordered avoidable prison on bail of 100,000 euros (about $ 110,223) for the six Spaniards arrested in an operation against illegal fishing for toothfish in the Antarctic.
The judge sent to prison detainees for crimes against the environment, integration in a criminal organization, money laundering and forgery.
Five of the detainees belong to the same Spanish family, which owns the company Vidal Armadores.
The judge accused of illegally fishing Patagonian toothfish, a species which is protected and can only be captured by quotas.
In the arrest warrant, the judge said that the “organized group” through “a network of national and international companies,” lead fishing illegally “toothfish” ( other designations of toothfish) since at least 2006 and used it several ships registered to companies in third countries.
The founder of the group, according to the judge, decided the fishing places or dates of the campaigns, and did according to their children, occupying various positions in different companies and are shareholders of the same.
The family used for their activities an enterprise network with Spanish companies and others located in countries such as Belize, Switzerland or Panama, who owned ships that came to change names several times.
The only detainee who is not a member of the family was responsible for “organizing and directing the business and financial network”.
Patagonian toothfish, whose scientific name is “Dissosstichus eleginoides” and also known as Patagonian toothfish or Chilean sea bass is a protected species that can measure more than two meters and weigh a hundred kilos, besides being one of the larger fish Antarctica.
Catches of this coveted species of white meat are so lucrative that illegal fishermen call “white gold” because an average load of 1.5 tons can assume about 83 million dollars and sold to fancy restaurants United States, Japan and, more recently, Australia.
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