The Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday imposed a fine of N$950 000 or nine years imprisonment on Arngrimur Brynjolfsson, the captain of Samherji-linked and Namibian registered fishing vessel, Heinaste. Brynjolfsson was charged and found guilty on three counts of contravening the Marine Resources Act by violating any rights quota, licence or fisheries agreement or any conditions of a licence. The amount includes N$300 000 or a four-year prison sentence for all three counts. The accused was further fined an additional N$50 000 after the court applied section 54 of the Marine Resources Act. The judgment was passed on by Magistrate Rivermo Williams here on Wednesday. Brynjolfsson 67, was arrested last November after he was found illegally fishing in Namibian waters at Walvis Bay. The Heinaste vessel which, via a court order, had been impounded at a designated area within the Walvis Bay Port on 10 December 2019, will also be released back to its owners with all its relevant documents. This, according to the magistrate, was due to the fact that there was not enough evidence indicating that the employer, Heinaste, had any involvement in the accused’s crime. “It cannot be concluded based on one document alone, that being the contract employment, that the employer did not take reasonable steps to prevent the unlawful use of the vessel,” the magistrate stated. The court also ordered for the accused’s bail of N$100 000 to be refunded in full. -NAMPA