Liverpool Crown Court found 17 people guilty of falsifying catch records worth an estimated £1.25 million on 12 January.
The prosecution was brought by the UK’s Marine Fisheries Agency and 17 out of the 22 defendants pleaded guilty to more than 90 specimen charges of landing ‘blackfish’. Those involved included trawler skippers and owners, and were fined a total of £147,000.
Three others and two fishing companies who also pleaded guilty will be sentenced later. Two other men who pleaded not guilty will face trial later in the year.
The Court heard that tonnes of cod, haddock, plaice and scampi had been illegally landed from 12 vessels at Whitehaven in Cumbria and Kilkeel, Northern Ireland, undermining the quota system.
The amount of fish caught was deliberately under-reported, as was discovered during an investigation by the Marine Fisheries Agency.
When inspectors compared trawlers’ log books and landing declarations with legitimate buyers’ receipts, they found that the quantities and values of fish had been deliberately falsified.
Mike Parker, Marine Fisheries Agency District Inspector, had stern words for those who do not comply with fishing regulations, and said “the organisation will prosecute offences of this nature robustly.”
"The Marine Fisheries Agency regards this as a serious case of cheating the system which is designed to safeguard fish stocks and thus protect the livelihoods of fishermen. This type of prosecution is necessary to prevent the unlawful landing of species that are subject to quota limits.
