Big fines for boat operators illegally fishing
THE PROSECUTION ‘SENT OUT A CLEAR MESSAGE’ TO OTHERS
THE owner and master of a scallop dredging vessel have been ordered to pay more than £200,000 after pleading guilty to multiple breaches of fisheries regulations off the Yorkshire coast.
Magistrates heard boats from Oban in Scotland and Torquay in Devon repeatedly broke rules designed to protect the scallop fishery off the coast near Robin Hood’s Bay during a four-month period in 2019.
The prosecution was brought by the North East Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (NEIFCA), which is administered by the East Riding Council.
John Macalister, owner of the Star of Annan OB 50, and master of the vessel Alec Murray both appeared at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court having admitted the offences at a previous hearing.
Macalister, of Oban, was fined £180,000 and ordered to pay £70,000 costs and a £170 victim surcharge.
Murray, of the Isle of Lewis, was fined £2,908 and ordered to pay £555 costs and a victim surcharge of £170.
Macalister also appeared as a director of Torquay-based Q Varl Fishing Co Ltd, which was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £2,140 and a £170 victim surcharge relating to two similar offences, which were committed by the fishing vessel Q Varl BM 29 in 2019.
The court heard how the offences included operating in a closed season, using scallop dredges, failing to operate a fully-functioning vessel identification system, as well as landing undersized scallops.
The magistrates found there had been a deliberate failure to put measures and systems in place to operate within the fishery rules.
NEIFCA chief officer David Mccandless said: “We have worked incredibly hard to manage and police the scallop fishery in the North East to ensure its sustainability, protect co-located static gear fisheries and to minimise impacts on the marine environment.
“These prosecutions should send a very clear message that the courts take marine conservation and the sustainable harvesting of shellfish very seriously and the outcome is a recognition of the important work that inshore fisheries and conservation authorities do.
“All the IFCAS work collaboratively and in partnership with a wide range of other agencies to ensure that English inshore waters are managed and monitored effectively.”
The NEIFCA manages coastal fisheries between the Humber and the River Tyne.
The seaward limit of the authority’s jurisdiction covers some 224 coastal miles and includes more than 20 fishing ports and launching sites, used by more than 250 commercial and 600 leisure vessel operators.
Annually, more than 13,500 tonnes of whitefish and shellfish are legally landed within the authority’s area for a total first sale worth of more than £33m.