NaFAA Fines Chinese Company

-For Allegedly Smuggling Fish Into The Country

The management of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) has levied a fine on the Africa Zhong Sheng Hai Fishing Company, a Chinese establishment.

A fishing boat, not for the Chinese Company
The fine which is in the tone of fifty thousand United Sates dollars, (US$50,000.00) was as a result of the company allegedly smuggling a whole consignment of fish on the Liberian Market.
According to a press release signed by the communication Director of NaFAA, Lewis Konoe and issued over the weekend, the operators of the Africa Zhong Sheng Hai fishing Company on June 8, 2018 allegedly offloaded huge consignments of fisheries products from Fishing Vessel Fu Hia Yu 6666 at the China Union BMC Pier, Freeport without import permit from the Fisheries Authority.
The release indicated that the quantity of the consignment that was being offloaded was 132.277 tons of fish products, something which caused a huge revenue loss for the Liberian Government on the part of the company.
“The quantity of consignment that was being offloaded was 132.277 tons of fish products, this was a huge revenue intake which was never paid to government by the management of the Africa Zhong Sheng Hai Fishing Company as required,” the release noted
According to the 2010 Fisheries Regulations Section 10, ‘no person shall use a Liberian fishing vessel, foreign fishing vessel or other vessels or engage in any fishing or related activities except in accordance with the regulations and the terms and conditions of a valid and applicable license or authorization’.
The release stated that since the new management of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) took over the affairs of the Fisheries Sector, ‘Illegal cold storages’ have been uncovered and compared to regularize their status before operating in Liberia in accordance with the fisheries’ regulations.
This was triggered by a tour of cold storages in parts of the commercial city of Paynesville Red Light at which time NaFAA’s management discovered that some cold storages were not part of its database.
NaFAA’s management has the constitutional mandate to raise the needed revenue for the government of Liberia through the fisheries sector, something the new management has vowed to doing.