Annelies-Ilena

A demonstration with 200 people protested on Feb 15, 2024, in Saint-Malo, against the 'Annelies Ilena'. The giant factory ship in Surimi represents, for small fishermen and the NGO Bloom, a “social and ecological disaster”.400,000 kg of fish can be captured in just 24 hours by the trawler operated by the Saint-Malo Fishing Company, which is the largest in the world. It cannot pass through the locks. Charles Braine, former fisherman and president of the Pleine mer association, along with the ocean defense NGO Bloom, called to demonstrate against the factory ship, near another trawler, the 'Joseph Roty II', which it will replace. Nearly 200 people gathered in front of the Saint-Malo sub-prefecture, among them representatives of fishermen's defense organizations, such as Pleine mer, Mor Glaz or the CGT des sailors du Grand Ouest. Many members or supporters of environmental associations were present, as well as several elected officials, including Green MEPs Caroline Roose and Marie Toussaint. Nicknamed the “ship from hell” in Mauritania, where it operated until now, due to “its ultra-destructive practices”, the Annelies Ilena is a Polish-flagged ship, owned by the Dutch fishing giant Parlevliet & Van der Plas. Report with photo: https://www.la-croix.com/planete/surpeche-a-saint-malo-manifestation-contre-le-plus-grand-chalutier-du-monde-20240215

On April 05, 2018, around 4 a.m. the maritime prefecture of the Channel and North Sea was alerted by the CROSS Jobourg after a crew member of the "Annelies Ilena" had suffered an injury. The ship was 37 miles off the Casquets northwest of La Hague. After a medical teleconference between the ship and the Maritime Medical Consultation Center in the Netherlands, a medical evacuation was decided in consultation with the SAMU in Le Havre. A Cayman navy helicopter stationed at Maupertus took on board a team of the Medical Center of the Armed Forces of Querqueville at 4:20 a.m. and took off towards the ship. At 05.20 a.m., the wounded sailor was hoisted and transferred to the hospital of Caen where he was taken care of at 06:30 a.m. French report with photo: https://www.premar-manche.gouv.fr/communiques-presse/vacuation-medicale-bord-chalutier-annelies-ilena-large-des-casquets.html

The skipper of the "Annelies Ilena" pleaded not guilty to fishing offences on Mar 25 at the Donegal Circuit Court. Coastguard officers from the "Lé Róisín" boarded the vessel on Nov 22, 2013 after they saw seagulls following the vessel and retrieving fish from the rear of the trawler. When the vessel was boarded there was evidence that a grading machine was in the production room and fish was being discarded. The trawler was detained off Tory Island and taken to Killybegs. There were no records of any fish discards between October 8th and the date of the boarding. The skipper Gerrit Plug (58), a Dutch national, has pleaded not guilty to five charges. The offences included discarding species of fish which are subject to quota, failing to record discards and having illegal equipment on board. The court was told the trawler had illegal equipment for grading fish and discarding some straight back into to sea which should have been kept. The State’s case is that this was an ongoing, systematic practice on the trawler. The prosecution maintained Mr Plug discarded fish known as horse-mackerel and retaining larger fish to increase the value of the catch. Patricia McLaughlin, for the prosecution, opening the case, told the court all of the offences relate to a practice known as high-grading. That involves discarding fish of legal size to maximise the value of the catch. The trial continues.