The skipper and owners of the Spanish trawler Nuevoc Confurco were fined a total of £13,800 by magistrates at Truro, UK in July after pleading guilty to two net offences.
The trawler was boarded by British Sea Fisheries Officers from fishery protection vessel HMS "Severn" as it fished for angler fish and megrim inside the hake recovery zone in the Western Approaches south of Ireland in area V11j.
Officers found the net twine being used was greater than 4mm and that the round straps in use on the cod end were set closer together than permitted distance. The court heard that both illegal measures had the effect of constricting the net which prevented immature fish from escaping.
Owner Herederos de Manuel Gonzalez Parada of Vigo, Spain was fined a total £11,300 for the two offences. Skipper Jose Garcia of Cangas was fined £1,500.
