June 23, 2015 — MADRID — Authorities in Spain have accused a company there of running a lucrative international operation that illegally captured vast amounts of an Antarctic fish prized in top restaurants.
The Spanish government proposes fining the company as much as 11.4 million euros ($12.9 million) for alleged poaching of the Antarctic toothfish, a delicacy marketed in North America as Chilean sea bass.
A government statement said the operation was concealed behind a labyrinthine system of foreign front companies, with fishing boats flying the flags of African and Asian countries to mask ownership.
Spain did not name the companies, but New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully told The Associated Press in an interview they were all linked to Vidal Armadores SA, which was fined 150,000 euros in 2010 for illegal fishing near Antarctica.
The Spanish government declined comment when asked why it did not name Vidal or the front companies it allegedly used.