The owner and master of a scallop dredging vessel have to pay over £200,000 after pleading guilty to multiple breaches of local scallop dredging regulations and national fisheries legislation which took place off the Yorkshire coast.
Company owner of the Star of Annan OB 50, John MacAlister (Oban) Ltd, of South Pier, Oban and master of the vessel, Alec Murray, of Upper Bayble, Isle of Lewis, both appeared at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 6 April for sentencing, having admitted the offences at a previous hearing.
The company owner was fined £180,000, and has to pay £7,000 costs and £170 victim surcharge while Murray was fined £2,908, has to pay costs of £555 and a victim surcharge of £170.
MacAlister also appeared as a director to represent Q Varl Fishing Co Ltd, The Terrace, Torquay, which was fined £15,000 and has 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 between 27 May and 4 June, 2019.
The prosecution was brought by the North East Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (NEIFCA) following significant patrols and enforcement efforts by its officers
The court heard how the 10 offences, which had between 4 March 2019 and 28 May 2019 off the coast of Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire, 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 that there had been a deliberate failure to put in place and to enforce such systems as could reasonably be expected to avoid commission of the offences.
David McCandless, NEIFCA chief officer, 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.”
He added:
“I would also like to thank officers from the Northumberland IFCA for their assistance in gathering some of the key supporting evidence relating to the cases.
“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.”
North Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (NEIFCA) has a statutory duty under the 2009 Marine and Coastal Act to manage the sustainable exploitation of sea fisheries resources within an area between the River Tyne in the north and the south bank of the Humber Estuary.
The seaward limit of the authority’s jurisdiction covers some 224 coastal miles encompassing over 20 primary fishing ports and launching sites, utilised by over 250 commercial and 600 hobby vessel operators.
Annually, over 13,500 tonnes of whitefish and shellfish are landed within the authority’s area for a total first sale of over £33million.
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