Faro district court condemns Ria Formosa fish farm for causing death of 14 birds
Faro District Court has sentenced a fish farming company (and its director) for the crime of damage to nature which caused the death of 14 birds in Ria Formosa.
SPEA, the Portuguese society for the study of birds, has celebrated the conviction as “an important milestone”.
Julieta Costa, coordinator of SPEA’s conservation department, explains that “many environmental crimes don’t even make it to trial. Even in this case, SPEA had to intervene so that the case wasn’t archived…”
The crime took place in December 2021, when the birds – including eight flamingos – became trapped in nets covering an aquaculture tank in the Ria, ending up dying.
Initially, the public prosecutor’s office archived the case, but after SPEA filed a ‘hierarchical complaint’, it proceeded with an indictment and then a trial.
This has created a precedent – which for SPEA is an important milestone, says Costa
In the ruling, the court convicted the company and its director of the offence of unconscionable negligence – in other words, reprehensible carelessness.
According to the judgement handed down on February 13, the company received a fine of €10,000, suspended for three years, on payment of a good behaviour bond of €2,000, subject to the condition that it does not repeat the same type of crime during that period.
The company director was also ordered to pay a fine of €600. Both convicted parties have 30 days to lodge an appeal.
At issue is the placement of nets on the surface of aquaculture ponds which prevent birds from reaching fish and consuming them, thus causing ‘damages’ to fish farming businesses. The problem is that the nets are made of thin, transparent nylon thread, which is practically invisible to the birds, hence why they fly into them. When they hit the surface of the water, the birds are invariably caught in the thread, suffering deep cuts to their bodies and wings, and more often than not dying as a result.
According to the law, such nets can only be installed with a licence from the ICNF (Institute of nature conservation and forestries), which must ensure that protected species are not affected.
As SPEA has explained, a large number of aquaculture concerns in Portugal have this type of netting installed, in which countless birds – including protected species – are trapped every year.
Source material: SPEA
