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Fishermen guilty of false claims Court fines fish crews £150,000
(1 day later)
Twenty people from Kilkeel and two fishing companies based in the County Down port have pleaded guilty to breaking rules on fish quotas. A group of Kilkeel fishermen who pleaded guilty to landing illegal fish have been given fines totalling almost £150,000 at Liverpool Crown Court.
The court was told the men cheated the system of £400,000 by falsely claiming they had caught non-quota fish such as conger eel and gurnard.
Several people expressed surprise when the judge started reading out the sentences for 15 of the 20 accused.
They were fined up to £30,000 with tens of thousands of pounds costs.
The fines for the illegal catches in 2003 also reflected the level of involvement of crew members and their ability to pay with some fined £800.
It was claimed in court that the illegal catches were motivated by "financial hardship and not greed".
The judge said he accepted the point but that it "was no excuse".
Under European law, only regulated levels of fish like cod and haddock can be caught in order to preserve stocks.Under European law, only regulated levels of fish like cod and haddock can be caught in order to preserve stocks.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the fishermen cheated the system by falsely claiming they had caught non-quota fish such as conger eel and gurnard.
Barristers for the 22 people will make the case for mitigation on Friday.
The court heard that the fishermen, who ran 12 boats in the Irish sea, caught fish worth more than £1.2m in 2003 but only declared around £844,000 of that haul.The court heard that the fishermen, who ran 12 boats in the Irish sea, caught fish worth more than £1.2m in 2003 but only declared around £844,000 of that haul.
The boats landed their fish at Kilkeel and Whitehaven, in Cumbria.The boats landed their fish at Kilkeel and Whitehaven, in Cumbria.
A prosecution lawyer said "substantial profits" had accrued to those involved.
"This was a systematic and sustained, deliberate manipulation of the records by these defendants," he said.
"These offences are, however, not simply a matter of concealing the value of the catch.
"It is in misrecording what that catch was, and thereby enabling blackfish, that is to say fish that are not declared as a quota for a particular species, to enter the market, and thereby to undermine efforts made throughout the EC to conserve fish stocks in European waters."