A fisherman who tried to hide the number of queen scallops he had caught has been fined £6,000.

Melvin Reid, the skipper of Our Sarah Jayne, sailed back out of Peel harbour when he saw DEFA officials waiting for him and dumped eight bags of scallops behind the breakwater.

He then grabbed the ship’s diary from a DEFA official and threw it overboard.

The 62-year-old, of Queen’s Valley, Ramsey, admitted two counts of obstructing fishing authorities.

Magistrates also ordered him to pay £2,918.20 to cover the costs of a dive team who went to retrieve the bags and an underwater survey.

Prosecuting advocate Roger Kane told the court that the scallop fishing season last year ran from July 1 to September 29.

Vessels are allowed to catch 647 tons for the season and fish between 6am and 6pm from Monday to Friday.

DEFA staff monitor landings and inspect catches, and on August 24 were on Peel quayside making landing inspections.

’Our Sarah Jayne’ arrived with bags of scallops stacked and the crew said they had caught 90 bags, which was their full quota.

However, before this could be inspected the boat slipped its ropes and steamed back out to sea.

Officials saw the boat head to the back of the breakwater with its portside kept out of sight so they suspected that it had exceeded the catch quota.

Reid was said to have been seen throwing bags overboard and then returned the vessel to the harbour.

When spoken to by inspectors he was said to have been agitated and uncooperative, verbally insulting the officers.

Officers then entered the boat’s wheelhouse to inspect the ship’s diary, which is supposed to note figures, but Reid followed and then ripped the diary from an officer’s hands and threw it into the sea.

He said that the diary was private and could have contained naked pictures of his wife in it so they had no right to look at it.

After a dive team went down behind Peel breakwater they found eight bags of dumped scallops but for health reasons decided not to recover them.

Reid was invited to attend a voluntary interview at DEFA headquarters on September 17 but he responded by declining the invitation.

He was offered an alternative date but again declined the invitation.

The court heard that in January 2018 Reid was fined £5,000 for breaching scallop fishing regulations.

Defence advocate Peter Russell said that the prosecution facts had been agreed in advance.

’They don’t make particularly happy listening for Mr Reid and he accepts he didn’t do himself any favours on the day,’ said the advocate.

’His behaviour was unacceptable and there’s very little that can be added.

’He has asked me to apologise to DEFA. He recognises they have an important function and it’s in the best interests of the fishing industry as a whole that it is carried out.

’He accepts he threw the catch overboard. He was concerned the catch may have exceeded the quota he was allowed.’

Mr Russell went on to say that it was vital that vessels made the maximum catch in the fewest trips to sea to cut down on overheads.

practice

He said that it was industry practice for a skipper to take a little more as the weight would decrease by the time it was landed due to water loss.

The advocate said that the fishing industry had been hit hard by Covid as the main purchasers of scallops were in France, Italy and Spain, and that Reid had been under a lot of stress and pressure.

’He saw DEFA waiting and he panicked,’ said Mr Russell. ’He has been fishing for nearly 40 years and in terms of fishing offences is lightly convicted.’

Magistrates chair Belinda Pilling told Reid: ’What you did on the day in question was foolish. It was clearly a deliberate act.’

Reid was fined £4,000 for the first count of obstruction (leaving the harbour), and £2,000 for the second (throwing the diary away).

He was given six months to pay the fine and costs.

Speaking after the court hearing, Geoffrey Boot MHK, Minister for Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, said, ’Our regulations are place to protect and support both the fishing industry and our marine environment.’

’The department considers the enforcement of these regulations as a top priority and expects that, when doing so, officers are not obstructed. I hope this prosecution serves as a reminder that we take the preservation of our environment and future security of our industries seriously.’