Two north-east skippers have each been fined in court after admitting separate breaches of fishing laws.
Brian Harvey, master of Banff-registered Orion BF432, appeared in the dock and admitted failing to record a catch of 466kg of witches fish.
Meanwhile, Andrew Hay, master of Fraserburgh-registered Valkyrie FR262, admitted failing to submit e-logbook data every 24 hours as required by regulations.
Each skipper could have been fined up to £50,000 but was spared such high penalties given the relatively low catch and time period involved.
Instead, Harvey and Hay received £1,250 and £2,500 fines respectively.
Failed to declare part of catch
Harvey, 60, who owns Orion, was caught by a fishing officer landing a catch of white fish at Peterhead Harbour on August 20 2021 without giving the proper four hours’ notice.
Due to this the officer spoke with Harvey and while doing so took note of the catch being landed.
A later comparison of those fish and the catch declared revealed the discrepancy of 466kg of witches, worth £156, which was not declared.
The skipper of 30 years was offered a fixed penalty notice of £2,000 by Marine Scotland, which he declined to pay.
In court, his solicitor David Sinclair said Harvey had been “apprehensive” about landing his catch from his relatively new 24.5m twin-rig trawler and stressed his catch of cod, haddock and whiting were all fish for which his client had a quota.
He said. “It was his second trip aboard the vessel. He prides himself on completing e-logbooks accurately and his record shows that. There’s no obligation to own a quota for catching witches.
“He explained in an interview that the new computer in the vessel was different to the one in the old boat.
“He was apprehensive about landing it back to the harbour and he admits he simply overlooked this catch of witches. He feels disappointed that he has come before the court for this.”
The court heard the witches have a value of just 35p per kilo.
“There’s no element of deception or dishonesty and no real financial gain,” the solicitor added.
Sheriff Annella Cowan fined first offender Harvey, of Greenbank Place, Fraserburgh, £1,250.
Data logs ignored over Hogmanay
Meanwhile, Andrew Hay was fined £2,500 after he failed to submit any logs of where and what fishing was being carried out by his trawler Valkyrie between 10.04pm on December 30 2021 and 6.38am on January 1 2022.
Fiscal depute Jennifer Pritchard said that by law each vessel must submit reports every 24 hours to assist with the misreporting of the area of catch which is then checked by Marine Scotland.
While Hay, a contractor at the helm of the boat at the time, brought in a catch valued at £31,032 from his 11-day trip, he failed to keep on top of the logbooks during that time.
Defence agent Mr Sinclair said he’d been ill in his cabin over Hogmanay and this was reported by the vessel’s owners to the Marine Scotland HQ in Edinburgh.
A fixed penalty notice offer was also rejected so Hay, a 37-year-old father-of-two was charged.
‘No element of deception’
The skipper of 20 years, who earns around £80,000 per annum, didn’t appear in court personally, but his solicitor said although he’d failed to delegate the logging responsibility there was “no element of deception or gain” and his quota catch was all normal.
He added: “Mr Hay has not had his troubles to seek with his vessels. In November two vessels collided and his vessel was the one which ultimately sank – fortunately, he and his crew were rescued.”
Sheriff Cowan said there were “various reasons for this data needing recording” and so this made the offence a “serious matter”.
Hay, of Main Street, Longside, was fined £2,500.
For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group.