Fishery cruiser three day chase

Fishery cruiser chases East Coast trawler for three days 12/9/14

A fishery cruiser chased an East Coast trawler for three days when it refused to stop for government fishery inspectors.

The MFV Aquarius of Macduff ignored repeated signals to heave-to and was pursued by fishery patrol boat, MPV Jura, Stornoway Sheriff Court was told.

She had a £53,000 catch of monkfish in her hold when the chase ended near the other side of the country, over 100 miles away.

Her skipper did not hear the repeated series of blasts when the fishery patrol boat, MPV Jura, blew her whistle for six seconds a time on the morning of 15 March last year.

Radio calls and an electronic DSC signal which transmits a series of beeps to a boat’s VHF radio set went unanswered.

Scott Shepherd, master of the Banff-registered 21-metre long trawler, insisted he didn’t hear the foghorn as he was below decks while an electrical fault meant the radio wasn’t working properly.

The Jura itself gave evidence to the trial - the fishery protection ship was berthed in Stornoway harbour and gave test blasts on her whistle, loud sound signals which were heard in the courtroom.

Shepherd denied a charge of intentionally obstructing a sea fishery officer by repeatedly failing to allow safe access onto his fishing vessel.

Sheriff Kevin Veal found him guilty and fined the 45-year-old of 8 Kirkwood Crescent, Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, £6,000, to be paid at £500 a month.

The court heard the Jura was on patrol for illegal fishing north of the Butt of Lewis and her fishery protection officers wanted to inspect the trawler’s fish hold.

But no-one on the Aquarius responded to numerous calls to her VHF radio and kept on steaming on.

In hot pursuit by the fishery cruiser, the trawler headed east moving out of one licensed sea area into another overnight.

Now in a different quota area, the Aquarius set her nets and started trawling, the court heard.

When the nets were hauled at 7am on the 16 March, the fishery team suspected it had caught nothing as there was a curious absence of the seabirds which usually gather in flocks to scavenge pickings, the court heard.

Nevertheless, the trawler’s logbook indicated it had caught nearly 18 tonnes of monkfish in that area.

Officers on the Jura linked into the Aquarius’ electronic logbook and discovered she was setting course for Scrabster.

Unable to get any two-way communication with the trawler, the fishery cruiser sailed ahead and waited at the north of Scotland harbour.

On the third day, some seven miles off Scrabster, the MFV Aquarius suddenly altered course and went off in a different direction.

Determined not to give up, the Jura chased her again.

Shortly, the fishing boat crew contacted the patrol vessel, explaining they had word from the Scrabster fishery office the Jura was trying to get in touch.

Fishery protection officials eventually got onboard the trawler which then diverted back into Scrabster harbour.

Four weeks ago, the same fishing boat was involved in an illegal fishing case which ended up in court.

Micheal Taylor who was the captain of the MFV Aquarius in December 2013, admitted illegally landing a haul of haddock at Scrabster.

The catch was netted off the Butt of Lewis, in the same region as involved in this week’s case.

Four weeks ago, the 42-year-old was fined a total of £1,300 at Stornoway Sheriff Court.

Taylor had also pleaded guilty to falsifying records in an attempt to conceal the sea area where the haddock was caught.

The trawler was actually fishing 30 miles north west of the Butt of Lewis but Taylor claimed the fish was netted in the neighbouring North Sea area to the east.