Spanish skipper charged in West Cork with 12 offences linked to illegal fishing 

A 55-year-old Spanish skipper has appeared in court in West Cork where he was charged with 12 offences relating to alleged illegal fishing activities in Irish waters on various dates in January this year.

Juan Pablo Ducal Rubido, skipper of the German-registered, Spanish-based, fishing vessel Pesorsa Dos appeared before Judge Colm Roberts at a special sitting of Bandon District Court on Saturday afternoon.

Mr Rubido with an address at Ciudad de Lugo 5, Third Floor, A Coruña, Spain, was charged with 12 offences relating to alleged illegal fishing in Irish territorial waters on various dates between January 5 and January 25 this year.

Mr Rubido faces one charge that between January 5 and 9 this year he was master of the Pesorsa Dos when the vessel failed to record the depth it was fishing at, as required by EU law.

He faces one charge that on January 1 this year, as master of the Pesorsa Dos, he failed to record the soak time — the time the vessel leaves its nets in the water — as required by EU law.

He also faces nine charges that on dates between January 4 and January 25 this year, as master of the Pesorsa Dos, the vessel exceeded the permitted soak time of 72 hours as outlined in Section 14 of the Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006.

Mr Rubido was also charged with one count of failing to facilitate safe boarding of the vessel for inspection when a boarding ladder broke when Irish Navy personnel were attempting to board the Pesorsa Dos on January 23 this year.

Giving evidence of arrest, charge, and caution, Garda Geraldine O’Sullivan from Castletownbere Garda Station said that Mr Rubido was arrested at Deenish Pier in Castletownbere on January 28, where he made no reply to the 12 charges put to him. 

Jerry Healy, the acting State Solicitor for West Cork, said Mr Rubido had been served with the book of evidence outside the court and the DPP had directed trial by indictment.

There was no objection to the granting of bail but the State did apply to have the vessel, Pesorsa Dos, detained indefinitely in Castletownbere and also until the owners of the vessel provide a bond of €245,000 to cover any potential legal costs and fines as well as the cost of the vessel’s catch and gear.

Mr Rubido’s defence solicitor Dermot Conway said his client had agreed to the conditions and Mr Rubido was granted bail on his own bond of €5,000.

Judge Roberts returned Mr Rubido to appear before the next sittings of Cork Circuit Criminal Court on January 31.

The 26-metre Pesorsa Dos was detained on Saturday, January 21, by the LÉ George Bernard Shaw and escorted to Castletownbere, Co Cork on Thursday, January 26, after hauling in its gear took several days to complete. 

It is understood that the vessel was fishing for monkfish in Irish waters at the time of its detention.