News story: Master and vessel owner fined £29,000 for fisheries offences

David Marr, master of UK registered fishing vessel Honeybourne III (PD905) and owner Macduff Shellfish (Scotland) Ltd. were sentenced at Worthing Magistrates Court on 24 November 2017 in a prosecution brought by the MMO.

The court heard how an inspection by MMO officers on 9 March 2017 found a quantity of scallops below the allowed minimum size in the catch of the Honeybourne III at Shoreham.

Both defendants entered guilty pleas. Macduff Shellfish was ordered to pay a £23,264 fine, £4,000 costs and a £170 victim surcharge. David Marr was ordered to pay a fine of £1,000, £375.50 costs and a £100 victim surcharge.

A spokesperson for the MMO said:

The court in this case considered these offences to be serious in nature and imposed significant penalties, which recognises the scale of offending that took place and the potential risk of these offences on stocks.

In these cases the MMO will always take the appropriate action, including prosecution, to ensure offenders do not profit from such illegal activity and to protect fish stocks for the wider fishing industry and future generations.