Dutch fishing boat crew arrested for attempted manslaughter on inspectors

Eight crew members of a Dutch fishing boat were arrested in the Vlissingen harbor, the Public Prosecutor announced on Wednesday. They are suspected of deliberately endangering fishery inspectors of Dutch food and consumer product safety authority NVWA. The inspectors pressed charges of attempted manslaughter against them, NU.nl reports.

Three inspectors and employees of the government shipping company approached the fishing boat in a rubber boat. When they got close to the ship, the crew suddenly drew in their nets. The rubber boat became entangled, and the inspectors and employees were dragged under water. Two inspectors managed to clamber onto the fishing boat and bring it to a halt.

On board the inspectors found illegal fishing gear. This included nets with a smaller mesh size than allowed, which means that smaller fish can not escape. This damages the fish population.

The inspectors seized the illegal nets and caught fish, but the crew threw everything overboard. The inspectors then brought the boat into Vlissingen harbor, where the eight crew members were arrested.