25
Apr
Shetland scallop dredger fined
A SHETLAND fisherman was ordered to pay £3,000 at Lerwick Sheriff Court after he admitted breaching regulations designed to protect the islands’ shellfish stocks.
Stanley Gray was dragging 12 dredges just over a mile south east of Bressay Isle during the night of 1 February last year breaching the Shetland Islands Regulatory Fishery (Scotland)Order of 1999, which restricts scallop fishermen to 10 dredges and imposes a curfew between 9pm and 6am every day within the six mile limit.
The 47 year old disputed that the regulations were legal under European fisheries law as in my opinion he wasn’t breaking any European rules or regulations, however he changed his plea to guilty after his lawyer said he could not defend his position of not guilty.