TWO fishing boat owners were convicted and fined more than £9,000 for trawling within three miles of the shore between the Chichester and Littlehampton coast using vessels more than 14m in length.
Chichester magistrates imposed the fines on David Waldron (60) from Lowestoft, Suffolk, and Michael Michieli (48) from Jersey, for breaking fisheries legislation which is designed to protect inshore fish stocks of black bream and sea bass.
Both de
fendants pleaded guilty to the offences and were each fined £3,000 and ordered to pay towards the prosecutions costs.
In November, 2005 the pair were also convicted of three similar trawling offences and received fines exceeding £10,000.
Tim Dapling, chief fishery officer of the Sussex Sea Fisheries Committee, said: "This illegal activity threatens this important fishery which occupies such a sensitive ecological niche.
"While I am pleased the magistrates recognised the severity of these fishermen's activity by imposing these fines the case demonstrates there is a need for tougher sentencing powers to act as a more definitive deterrent where repeat offenders flout laws designed to protect the long-term health of the fish stocks."
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The full article contains 258 words and appears in OS-Chichester Observer newspaper.
