Alex Trelinski
AN UNAMED Santa Pola restaurant is in serious trouble for having 35 kilos of unsourced seafood in its freezers to plate up for unsuspecting diners.
The Guardia Civil believes the illegal catch was made by a unknown local fishing vessel that could have operated in protected marine areas like the near-by Tabarca Island.
The restaurant owner faces charges for having food that did not have appropriate safety standard documentation including traceability as well as verification that it was fit for human consumption.
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The Guardia were tipped off about the illegal capture and sale which led them to the Santa Pola restaurant.
Officers inspected the freezers and found no labelling of the products while the restaurant owner had no papers to prove the seafood had been legally obtained.
35 lobsters weighing 30 kilos and seven specimens of rock octopus weighing a total of five kilos were removed from the premises.
It was handed over to the Valencian department of Agriculture and Fisheries, and a report has been provided to local health authorities.
The restaurant owner faces fines totalling up to €60,000.
