Stop Illegal Fishing has been informed that Liberian authorities recently detected further IUU vessels fishing for tuna inside their EEZ.The Ghana flagged FV "Panofi Discoverer" was found fishing without a license well within the Liberian EEZ.Two Ghana flagged reefers "Volta Victory" and "Volta Glory", were also found illegally trans-shipping fish within Liberian waters without authorisation.

Both the tuna purse seiner and the two reefers are owned by Panofi Co Ltd. (in Ghana) while the owner is Silla Co Ltd. from Korea. Silla Co Ltd. owns 20 vessels in addition to the 8 Panofi vessels.Of these, 18 are registered to South Korea while 2 are registered to Kirabati.The 8 Panofi vessels are all registered to Ghana.

Based upon the evidence provided by the Bureau of National Fisheries in Liberia, Panofi Co Ltd has agreed to a settlement of 300 000 USD for the violations made by "Panofi Discoverer".It was also agreed that "Volta Victory" and "Volta Glory" would settle with a payment of 100 000 USD each. This would give a total settlement of 500 000 USD for the three vessels.The settlement is agreed but has still not been received by the Liberian Authorities.

The Bureau of National Fisheries in Liberia is also making investigations into other Panofi owned vessels that may have been fishing illegally in Liberia.Liberia has requested Ghana for information as well as VMS tracks to provide more insight into the possible issue.