Two UK owner skippers, who were filmed by a police helicopter as they illegally pair-trawled inside the three-mile limit, were ordered to pay £17,000 each in fines at costs by Chichester Magistrates on 20 November.
The Catherine Annie and the L’Ecume II were fishing just a mile offshore, near Bognor Regis, West Sussex, when the Sussex Sea Fisheries Committee called in the Sussex Police helicopter to catch them in the act.
The boats were targeting black bream, one of the most vulnerable species to intensive fishing because they congregate in shallow water to breed.
David Waldron, 61, of Lowestoft, and Michael Michieli, 49, of Jersey, each pleaded guilty to four offences of fishing in April and May this year within the three-mile fisheries limit - an area where large vessels are excluded to protect the marine environment and vulnerable fish stocks.
In the case brought by the Sussex SFC, magistrates fined them a total of £14,000 each (£3,500 for each offence), and ordered to pay a further £3,000 each towards the costs.
The Sussex Police helicopter was deployed on 25 April and 10 May 2009, and in both instances the police crew rapidly identified the offending vessels and filmed illegal fishing.
On 30 April the same vessels were intercepted and boarded by officers from Sussex SFC fisheries patrol vessel Watchful, and on 3 May the vessels were identified as fishing by an individual working at sea in the same area. The evidence of the witness was verified by the Marine and Fisheries Agency’s fishing vessel satellite tracking system.
