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Fishing skipper fined for breaches of fisheries legislation

The Scottish skipper Jonathan Bellany frin Aberdeenshire has been fined €17, 500 in relation to breaches of fisheries legislation in Irish waters. He was also ordered to forfeit €26,888.56 from the value of the catch and gear onboard when he appeared before the Cork Circuit Criminal Court on May 30, 2024. Bellany confirmed guilty pleas to charges for offences of failing to retain onboard catches of sea-fish subject of catch limits, failure to record legal discards of catches and failure to have a completed stowage plan describing the location of catches stored onboard the 'Andromeda-BF 437'. The charges arose from an inspection by officers attached to the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) patrol vessel 'Ocean Guardian' in the waters of the Irish EEZ on May 20. The detention was coordinated by officers onboard the ÄOcean Guardian', SFPA sea-fisheries protection officers and An Garda Síochána. The court heard evidence that during the course of an inspection of the vessel, the officers observed crew members sorting catch of sea-fish on a conveyor belt and segregated certain catches by species and size which were discharged through a funnel device back into the sea. Over the course of 30 minutes, they observed approximately 30-50kgs of catch, including hake, megrims, haddock, being discarded in this manner, while all catches should have been recorded on a daily basis. Evidence was given that the recording requirements and quotas were specifically important regarding quota species in order to preserve the survivability of stocks and prevent the collapse of stocks in particular fishing areas, by ensuring accurate, scientific data is available for the purposes of setting quota. The crew had a lack of training and knowledge of the legal requirements. The master did not have a stowage plan onboard the vessel in relation to the catch.