Garry Coley, skipper of the Shelley Marie, was ordered to pay £2,115 (£100 for the value of the illegal catch, £2,000 contribution to costs and £15 victim surcharge) by Torquay Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to scallop dredging in an area for crabbing vessels.
In the prosecution brought by the Marine and Fisheries Agency following work by the Devon Sea Fisheries Committee, the court accepted the prosecution’s evidence that he had been fishing in the area.