In a rare mood of openness the European Union has published the complete list of official reported serious infringements and imposed penalties on all EU fishing vessels.
The information that is supplied in this statement is based on reports by each individual EU member state.
The highest amount of violations was recorded on fishing without a fishing license, permit or required authorization. Member states uncovered such practices 1565 times, of which no less than 1226 cases concerned the Spanish fleet.
Based on this report the Spanish fleet not only seems to be the largest in the EU, but also the most notorious. In total 3714 violations of various rules by Spanish vessels were reported by members states. Of these 3714 reported violations eventually 2998 resulted in penalties to be paid by the vessel owners.
Besides Spain, also Italian boats take a prominent place on the list, compared to size of the fleet they seem to play least by the fishing rules of the EU.
In the report no specific information is supplied about the size of the vessels, the fishing methods used, the species targeted or the fishing area where the violation was recorded.
Obtain the full details by reading this table; EU Fleet Infrigements http://www.atuna.com/markt/att/EU%20Fleet%20Infringements.pdf