Master and Owner fined £10,109.62 for exceeding monthly quota limits
On 3 July 2015 Eastbourne Magistrates’ Court sentenced the master and owner of vessel Clar Innis NN732 in a prosecution brought by the MMO.
The court heard that in February of 2014 the vessel landed quantities of sole and cod in excess of the monthly limits contained in conditions attached to the vessel’s fishing licence. The court also heard how the vessel again exceeded this limit in respect of sole in March 2014. The owner of the vessel also asked the court to take into consideration a similar offence in respect of another vessel he owns, the Latney Star FE33 which landed cod in excess of the monthly limits in January 2015.
Neither the owner nor the master of the vessel had any previous convictions.
Having heard the facts and the defendants’ mitigation, the court fined the master, Scott Possnicker, £4,047.62 and ordered the payment of £120 victim surcharge.
The owner of the vessel, Joseph Watt, was ordered to pay a fine of £4,047.62, a victim surcharge of £120 and was ordered to pay £1560.00 towards the costs of the prosecution.