French trawler fined for illegal fishing in UK waters
The owners and master of a French twin trawler, Jacques de Thezac, were fined a total of £1600 and ordered
to pay costs of £1,557 for fishing illegally in British waters. The court ordered forfeiture of the whole trawl.
The twin trawler, was found guilty, at Haverford West Magistrates Court of using an undersized net made with
illegal twine for the area where they were fishing. The net was also fitted with an illegal top-side chafer which stops immature
fish escaping.
The routine inspection was carried out by HMS Tyne which detained the fishing vessel to Milford Haven.
The case was brought by the Marine Fisheries Agency (MFA) on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food
& Rural Affairs (Defra).
Following the verdict, Martin Hearn, District Inspector with the Marine Fisheries Agency, said:
"We will pursue everyone who fishes illegally in British waters. Today's fines reflect the seriousness of
the offences committed. These penalties should not be seen as an occupational hazard but a real deterrent.
"Fisheries protection is an important part of maintaining a sustainable fishing industry and the UK manages
and protects fish stocks. The MFA and Royal Navy, want a long term sustainable future for the nation's fishing industry "
Notes to editors
The Master and Owners of the French Twin Trawler Jacques de Thezac (GV622501) pleaded guilty, to the charge
of using an undersize net for the area in which they were fishing, made of illegal twine thickness and fitted with an illegal
top-side chafer (2 chafers fitted).
They were fined as follows:
| |
Master |
Owner |
| Undersize net |
£150 |
£150 |
| Illegal twine thickness |
£300 |
£300 |
| Illegal Top-side chafer |
£350 |
£350 |
Total Costs: 1,557
TOTAL: £3,157
The magistrates ordered forfeiture of the whole trawl.
The detention notice on the vessel has been lifted.
do you call this a deterant i dont !
David
thanks for you comments about the BASS site.
I have no objection to you putting a link to the BASS web site on your
site. Thanks for asking.
If visiting the BASS site and reading about the work done to conserve
bass, encourages more anglers, especially anglers going out on
charters/boats, to practice 'catch & release' rather
than kill
everything legal, then so much the better.
Unfortunately many boat anglers consider bass to be a 'valuable
prize'
and sell the bass they catch to help defray costs. I don't think many
anglers realise that bass are a slow
growing species and are quite
parochial, so the removal of bass from an area, effectively
denies that area of bass
for many years to come.
Perhaps you will use your web site to spread
the word, and encourage
all anglers, when fishing for bass, to practice 'catch & release',
although nobody
has a problem with keeping the odd bass for the 'pot'.
Regards
David
please look at david's site i think we can all learn at lot from this site!!
http://www.ukbass.com
