The Police, Coast Guard, Environmental Crime, the Directorate of Fisheries and the Tax Agency have today taken action against several players in the fishing industry in Troms. Two people have been arrested in Troms and in Møre and Romsdal respectively, while the police have brought charges against four companies as part of the investigation. Charges have been brought against both individuals and companies regarding suspected breaches of fisheries legislation in connection with bringing fish ashore, as well as accounting offences. – We are now gathering more information through searches of fish receptions, vessels and various office premises, as well as through questioning of people. The goal is for us to form a good basis for further investigation. We cannot rule out the charges being extended to more provisions or more people, says police attorney Ronny Jørgensen in the press release. The campaign has a background in the inter-agency anti-crime collaboration, of which the police and the Norwegian Tax Agency are part, and which collaborates with the Directorate of Fisheries. The seafood industry is one of the risk areas within anti-crime on which, among other things, the Norwegian Tax Agency focuses. – This is an industry that has a turnover of many billions of kroner, and where breaches of regulations have previously been uncovered. It is therefore very important that the Swedish Tax Agency and other control authorities are closely involved in order to uncover offenses and ensure a level playing field, says tax crime manager Erik Nilsen at the Swedish Tax Agency. Unit leader in the Troms police district, Ståle Luther, says that the assistance from the Norwegian Tax Administration, the Directorate of Fisheries and other agencies is crucial when the police enter this type of investigation. Senior adviser Anne Tove Sivertsen in the Directorate of Fisheries says in the press release that fishing crime generally affects the community, which evades income from the values in the fisheries. – At the same time, crime will particularly affect value creation in coastal communities and lead to a distortion of competition in the industry in favor of actors who engage in crime, says senior advisor Anne Tove Sivertsen in the Directorate of Fisheries.
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Major action against the fishing industry – news Troms and Finnmark
