Spanish fishing companies are pressuring for higher Namibian hake quotas despite warnings that the stock could drop from an “alarmingly low level,” an investigation revealed Tuesday.

Around 70 percent of Namibian hake is caught by Spanish companies.

Yet despite signs that the stock is declining from already low levels, Namibia’s government increased the quota this year while some Spanish vessels catch more than they are entitled to, an investigation published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed on Tuesday.

“We are over-catching hake, and I don’t have a problem telling the [fisheries] minister this,” the Spanish fishing magnate Jose Luis Bastos told ICIJ reporters during the investigation, published on iWatch.

Bastos, who adopted the Namibian nationality to apply for fishing rights, was unconcerned about any potential fines when speaking from his office in Walvis Bay, ICIJ reported.

Hake