Wednesday, 6 May 2009
Stevenson's day in Court
In a landmark case, local fishing company W Stevenson & Son are in Crown Court over the landing and sale of over-quote or 'blackfish'. Day one of the hearing saw the prosecution allege that around £4 million pounds worth of illegally handled fish were involved. The case is likely to add weight to the arguemnt that the Proceeds of Crime Act (2002) is being used unfairly to target fishermen - as in the case of father and son aboard the trawler, Arcane, featured in the BBC series Trawlermen. The confiscation hearing is due to last three days and finish on Thursday.
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2 comments:
£4 million pounds worth of illegal fish were landed, all taxes paid on it, provided food and employment instead under EU regulations £4 millions worth of fish should have been dumped, dead on the seabed, polluting the oceans and wasting good food. Where is the logic in that?
Most involved would agree that there is no sense in using a quota system to manage mixed fisheries as found in the South Western Approaches - maybe this case will help highlight the inequity of the current system and increase the pressure on the Government and EU to use other fishing effort controls.
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