News / Skipper fined after crew caught “high grading”
A RELIEF skipper on a Shetland fishing boat has been fined £2,000 after one of his crewmen illegally threw cod back into the sea under the watchful eyes of fisheries inspectors.
Lerwick Sheriff Court heard on Monday that government inspectors had been on board the Alison Kay (LK 57) on 26 September last year when they saw the crewman throw around 20 cod overboard, despite them being more than the legal minimum of 35cm in length.
Relief skipper James Ritch, aged 45, of Olivette, Hamnavoe, had been in the wheelhouse at the time, but accepted responsibility and pled guilty to breaching European regulations designed to protect cod stocks.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the practice of “high grading” was designed to increase the value of the catch by discarding smaller fish, even if they were big enough to land legally.
However he accepted that the Alison Kay had a good reputation and steps had since been taken to install CCTV cameras on board the vessel as part of the Scottish government’s catch quota management regime to discourage such practices.
Defence agent Martin Sinclair said the value of the discarded fish was between £30 and £50, and would have been enough to fill no more than half a fish box.
He said that Mr Ritch had no previous convictions and had been relief skipper for 10 years, during a 30 year career at sea.
“He was unaware of the practices that were taking place at the time, and when it was brought to his attention he immediately spoke to the crew and indicated they must refrain from discarding any fish that were above the legal limit,” Mr Sinclair said.
He added that the crew were well aware that their pay was based on the value of the catch, creating an incentive to land bigger fish that were worth more money.
The CCTV cameras were installed shortly after the incident. As a result, Mr Sinclair said: “The crew are aware that they can’t do this in the future. Mr Ritch is fully aware of that himself and he bitterly regrets what happened.”
Only the week before the incident, which took place on 26 September last year, the boat had invited scientists from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science on board to help build up statistical information to help set quotas.
Sheriff Graeme Napier said that this was at the lower end of the scale for such an offence.
Fining Ritch, he said: “You and the rest of the people involved in the vessel have acted responsibly, as is acknowledged by the Crown, and it’s of reassurance that there is now a system in place that will discourage anyone who thinks they may increase the value of the catch in this way.”
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