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£38,000 penalty for fisheries offences (10 March 2017)

Date: 10/03/2017
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, £38,000 penalty for fisheries offences

A vessel master and owner have been prosecuted by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) for persistent fisheries offences.

At North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on Friday 3 March 2017, Klaas Kramer and the Island Fishing Company Limited – master and owner of the vessel Eben Haezer GY57 – pleaded guilty to breaching fisheries regulations.

The court heard how, between November 2015 and January 2016, the vessel repeatedly fished in the North Sea Cod Recovery Zone, despite having exceeded the maximum number of days at sea the vessel was allowed to spend in that area with regulated fishing gear under the regulations.

Investigations by the MMO found that the vessel had exceeded the 200-day limit by more than 37 days, spread over eight separate fishing trips – contrary to Section 4(9) of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967.

In November 2015, the MMO had sent the vessel owners a letter reminding them that they were within one day of the limit – but the vessel continued to fish, which resulted in the prosecution.

Klaas Kramer was fined £3,200 with a victim surcharge of £120 for his role as master of the vessel on seven of the trips.

Island Fishing Company – of which Mr Kramer is a director and shareholder – was fined an initial £9,200, with an additional fine of £24,000, which the Magistrates indicated represented the net profit of the illegal fishing, costs of £1,561 and a victim surcharge of £120.

After sentencing, a spokesman for the MMO said:

“The fines issued by the magistrates in this case send a clear message to the small minority of fishermen who seek to put profit first by failing to comply with the regulations. By issuing an additional fine of £24,000 – which the bench indicated that they felt represented the profit from the illegal fishing in this case – the court has made it clear that sentences for unlawful behaviour should deprive offenders of the economic benefit of offending.

“The MMO is clear that the vast majority of fishermen operate lawfully and in compliance with regulations which exist to protect fisheries from over-fishing – and are in place to ensure healthy, sustainable fisheries for this and future generations of fishermen. In the rare instances that non-compliance is detected, MMO uses a risk-based enforcement strategy and operates a graduated and proportionate system of sanctions, with prosecution reserved for the most serious offences."


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