A 72-year-old fisherman has been fined £6,000 for breaching lobster and crab fishing regulations.

Alan William Kermode admitted one count of having no valid tags on a pot, one of having invalid tags on a pot, and one of having at least one unobstructed escape gap in a pot.

The maximum fine for each offence is £100,000.

Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told the court that Kermode is the owner of the vessel Cushlin II PL5.

On June 10, Sea Fisheries officers were on patrol at Niarbyl bay where they found pots belonging to Kermode.

Tags for the pots are issued by the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture and allow them to identify who the pots belong to.

Some of Kermode’s pots had old tags attached while others had no tags and four were described as unusually large pots which would normally be used as stock pots.

Pots are also required to have at least one unobstructed escape gap but three pots were found to contravene this.

Ms Carroon said that 14 pots in total were found to be in breach of the Fisheries Act 2012.

Kermode, who lives in Main Road, Ballaugh, was interviewed at DEFA headquarters and accepted that some pot tags were incorrect, saying that he had not got around to changing them.

He said: ’I think you’re just nit picking.’

The court heard that Kermode had already had his fishing licence suspended for two weeks by DEFA from June 12 to June 26 in relation to the breaches.

He said that this had resulted in an estimated loss of earnings between £1,000 and £1,200.

Defence advocate Dawn Jones said that her client had been fishing for more than 50 years.

Ms Jones said that during lockdown Kermode had decided to deal with maintenance issues regarding his pots and had asked for new tags from DEFA.

Kermode was said to have received the tags but said he had not realised that he only had two weeks from the date of delivery to ensure all the new tags were attatched.

Ms Jones said that the pots with no tags were with pots which were tagged so it was clear they belonged to Kermode.

With regards to the larger pots Kermode said that he had been using them to fish for bait to then use for the other pots, rather than trying to exceed his quota.

Deputy High Bailiff Chris Arrowsmith fined Kermode £2,000 for the offence of having untagged pots, £1,000 for not having a valid tag on pots, and £3,000 for the ones with no unobstructed escape gap.

He was also ordered to pay £50 costs and was given three months to pay all amounts.