Police raid Vlissingen fish market in undersized fish investigation; Three arrested

Over 150 police officers raided the Vlissingen fish market early on Friday morning in an investigation into the illegal trade of undersized fish. They searched multiple fishing boats and arrested three fishmongers, police spokesperson Thomas Aling told Omroep Zeeland.

The police searched five fishing boats during the early hours of Friday morning. They unloaded and checked the cargo, boarded the vessel to see if any undersized fish were still present, and questioned the crew. The police haven’t said anything about what they found yet.

The raids follow an earlier investigation by the National Police and the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). The investigation found that caught undersized fish were being traded illegally. “That has happened on a considerable scale. We have seen it a number of times,” Aling told the broadcaster. “Of course, you are not allowed to fish this way. But more importantly: it negatively affects the ecological balance. If you catch young fish, they can no longer produce.”

The police arrested three fishmongers for illegally trading undersized fish. They are in custody for questioning but have not been designated as suspects yet, according to NU.nl.