90 untracked or undersized tuna seized in Santa Flavia

Last Updated: June 21, 2024

Tonno non tracciato o sotto taglia, sequestrati 90 esemplari a Santa Flavia

The finance police of the provincial command of Palermo, in the course of three operations, seized ninety specimens of bluefin tuna and nine specimens of swordfish that were not traceable, for a total of about ten tons of catch.

In the first intervention, the yellow flames of Bagheria identified some vans coming from the port of Porticello, in Santa Flavia, which were heading towards a warehouse of a fish market in Bagheria, where sixteen specimens of bluefin tuna were stored without the capture document that guarantees the traceability of the various stages of the supply chain from its capture to subsequent marketing.

In the second intervention, the military, following vans that had also left from Porticello, identified an illegal deposit managed by a trader who did not have a VAT number and a SCIA permit, where 44 tuna and nine swordfish were found, also in this case lacking the mandatory documents guaranteeing the traceability of the exploitation chain. Twenty-five of these specimens were undersized.

In the third intervention with the port authority, the finance police found 30 tunas without documentation on their origin in a warehouse of a company in Bagheria in the wholesale resale sector of fish products. The responsible parties have been reported to the maritime authority and the regional department for productive activities for the confiscation of traceless catch and a fine ranging from a minimum of 1,000 euros to a maximum of 6,000 euros, increased by a third because the bluefin tuna fish species is considered at risk of extinction. The trader of the illegal deposit was fined for carrying out commercial activities without authorization, with fines ranging from 12,500 euros to 150,000 euros for the first offense and from a minimum of 1,549 euros to a maximum of 15,493 euros for the second offense.

The 10 tons of tuna and swordfish seized, having been certified as suitable for consumption by the local health authority, were donated to the Western Sicily food bank.