Scuppered... as laird bans fishing f leet from harbour
FOR generations, fishermen have used the little harbour to protect their boats from North Sea storms, in a custom handed down from father to son.
But creelers have now been banned from keeping their vessels on the foreshore, after losing a lengthy legal battle with the landowner.
Despite boats being moored at the site ‘throughout living memory’, no formal permission was ever given to the fishermen by the owners of the seafront.
And when plastic surgeon Pralhad Kolhe took over ownership of Cove harbour, Aberdeenshire, he cast the men out.
Jim Adam, leader of the Cove Fishermen’s Association, who has been fishing from the harbour since 1966, said: ‘It’s really disappointing to the fishermen, especially considering the centuries-old heritage of fishing we have here in Cove.
‘We’ve never managed to have any dialogue with Mr Kolhe at all. We’ve tried on several occasions, via his solicitors, to try and find an amicable solution but he has refused on every occasion to talk to us.’
Mr Adam said: ‘He has never really explained exactly why he wants us out of here. None of the guys have ever had the chance to talk to the fellow.’
Sheriff Robert Miller ruled on the four-year dispute yesterday in favour of Mr Kolhe, a surgeon who bought the land and a property which overlooks the harbour in 2001. In his written judgment, Sheriff Miller ordered the owners of the boats to remove them as they have ‘no right to occupy and use’ the land owned by Mr Kolhe – despite the harbour being in use since the 19th century.
The sheriff said that although fishing had been carried out from the harbour ‘throughout living memory and beyond’, fishermen had stored boats there as part of a ‘local custom’ with ‘no formal system’ for the allocation of berths.
He said no permission had ever been sought by locals to leave their creel boats on Mr Kolhe’s land.
Sheriff Miller said: ‘I heard evidence from a number of witnesses to the effect that their fathers and grandfathers had carried on creel fishing activities from the harbour in much the same way as those activities are carried out now, having due regard to the modernisation of a number of attendant practices.
‘The general picture which emerged was of a widespread belief that the foreshore, the pier and the forelands were essentially public
places to which the public had a right of access and which the public were entitled to use as a matter of universal local custom and practice.’
However, he added: ‘The fact that the pier and other areas of land around the harbour were in private ownership seems to have been little known until the issues which gave rise to these proceedings arose.’
The fishermen have 28 days to remove their equipment. It is not known where the boats will be stored – fishermen are not keen to keep vessels in the water in case bad weather damages them.
The sheriff also ruled that large boulders placed at the entrance to the harbour in 2015 by Mr Kolhe to prevent vehicular access must now be removed within 28 days as they were obstructing a public right of way.
Mr Adam said: ‘At least it’s good news for divers and kayakers and others who use the pier, because now they’ll be able to gain access again.’
Mr Kolhe declined to comment.