Fisherman fined £4700 claims "brilliant" result

This has drawn a furious response from the Western Isles Fishermen’s who said in a statement: “We refute that it is common practice in Uist for people to land against other vessels using unregistered and unlicensed vessels”. They “fully supported” the action taken by the Marine Directorate in this case.

William Barker, 48, of Stoneybridge, South Uist, pled guilty to providing false information in the landing declarations. He admitted that, between 5 July 2021 and 9 June 2022, he had fished for wrasse on at least 29 occasions using an unlicensed Rigid Inflatable Boat.

Barker’s vessel, Lusty Lisa (CY8) was licensed and held a derogation for wrasse. It was out of the water for nearly a year for repairs and he “used his unlicensed RIB to conduct repeated fishing operations for wrasse”.

The court heard he had sold his wrasse to producers throughout Scotland including the Scottish Salmon Company, MOWI and Loch Duart. The value of the wrasse caught and retained on board during the period was £100,424.70.

Mark Stewart KC, representing Barker, told the court the wrasse season was short and the accused had the responsibility of a family to support, as well as a crew member to employ.

He said his client had “not ignored the licensing system entirely” as he had a licensed boat, the necessary derogation and written supply agreements. His decision to use the RIB instead had not had any conservation impact.

It was “a wrong decision”, but Mr Stewart added: “He genuinely believed that the use of this RIB was not conferring him any special advantage. He had seen around the islands situations where other people were using boats where they might not use the specific licensed boat for that task and he foolishly adopted what he had seen around him.”

Sentencing Barker, Sheriff Gordon Lamont told him the fishing industry “has these regulations and requirements for a reason and it is extremely important” that forms are appropriately filled in.He said there was a “commercial advantage” because the accused made money from using the unlicensed boat and the offence was a “severe one because of the number of occasions it occurred”. He fined Barker £4500, discounted from £6000 for his guilty plea, and added a victim surcharge of £175.

The sheriff said he was “concerned” that this practice of using unlicensed boats “appears to have been not just yourself but others in your immediate vicinity”.

Speaking outside court afterwards, Barker said the outcome was “absolutely brilliant”, adding: “I feel vindicated now with a relatively small fine.”

He claimed the authorities could have dealt with the matter through warnings, short of prosecution. “Fishing is fraught with vicissitudes and problems”, he said and claimed that in similar circumstances, “people would seek alternative vessels”. He added: “It’s historical practice. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m not saying it’s wrong, but I’m saying it’s done.”

However, the Western Isles Fishermen’s Association said in response: “We fully support the actions taken by the Marine Directorate in proceeding to take court action against any unlicensed and unregistered vessel selling for profit, as those owners are not subject to costly MCA inspection and regulation process that must be adhered to before a vessel can be registered and licensed”

Referring to “the restricted wrasse fishery”, the association said: “Tighter controls must be introduced before future wrasse permits are issued, as demand for those permits exceeds the numbers available and should only be issued to genuine fishermen operating from properly licensed vessels, with purchases authenticated to ensure they are collected from the vessel named on the permit.”