Panofi Company Limited a Ghanaian fishing company operating under Ghanaian flagged vessels has refuted allegations contained in a publication on January 1, 2013 by Stop Illegal Fishing’s website that despite fines imposed by the Liberian Government for illegally fishing in Liberian waters, it has failed to pay such fines.
Panofi in a press release says it opposes such allegations and it wants to state categorically that on December 27, 2012 Panofi Company Limited paid a fine in the amount of USD 500,000 pursuant to a Settlement Agreement reached on December 19, 2012 between the Bureau of National Fisheries of the Liberian Government and Panofi Company Limited.
This followed a finding for violations of the Liberian Fisheries regulations in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Liberia relating to unlicensed activities carried on by Panofi owned purse seine vessels.
The company says that despite their compliance, some groups of persons are persistently creating the erroneous impression that Panofi Company Limited has failed to abide by the terms of the Settlement Agreement.
Panofi claims that as a Ghanaian company it has invested substantially in the tuna industry in Ghana and in accordance with its corporate values, endeavors at all times to abide by international and national rules and regulations for fishing. It continues to repose confidence in the tuna industry and advocates for sustainable fishing activities. This unfortunate turn of events is deeply regretted.
Panofi is Korean owned and operates the Ghana flagged seiner FV “Panofi Discovererâ€, and two Ghana flagged reefers “Volta Victory†and “Volta Glory, it’s the main shareholder is Silla Co Ltd. (Korea). Silla Co Ltd. owns 20 vessels in addition to the 8 Panofi vessels. 18 of these are registered to South Korea while 2 are registered to Kirabati. The 8 Panofi vessels are all registered to Ghana.