On Friday 14^th June 2019 at North Tyneside Magistrates Court, the skipper owner of the Commercial fishing vessel ‘L’OGIEN K62” David Fairbairn pleaded guilty and received financial penalties for failing to comply with Northumberland Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority’s (NIFCA) Byelaws.

The court heard from Solicitor Andrew Oliver for NIFCA that on 12^th of November 2018 the vessel was first identified within the NIFCA district using VMS (Vessel Monitoring System), showing speeds associated with trawling.  Suspicions were raised when the 17.75 metre vessel failed to transmit any AIS transmissions (Automatic Identification System), required by fishing vessels more than 15 metres in length, while operating inside the NIFCA district.

After monitoring fishing activity from the vessel on the 6^th December 2018 the Authority had their Patrol vessel St Aidan intercept the fishing vessel at sea to inspect what gear was being operated.  The Master confirmed the vessel was twin rig fishing in breach of Northumberland IFCA Byelaw 1 “Trawling” which prohibits this gear type within its district. The master was instructed to lift his gear and further video evidence was obtained.

Andrew Oliver explained to the court the important work of NIFCA, particularly in respect to the Nephrop fishery, which has shown signs of over exploitation in recent years, so much so, a prohibition on twin rig trawling for the whole of the Farne Deeps Functional Unit was introduced by the Marine Management Organisation in 2016 to reduce fishing pressure within 12 nautical miles.  Mr Oliver highlighted the catching effectiveness of twin rig fishing, along with having an unfair advantage to other fishers operating lawfully within the Authorities district.

Mr Fairbairn was represented in court and in his mitigation stated that on all 5 trips being investigated by the Authority his vessel had only fished a single rig trawl, on the morning of the 6^th December. After a poor haul the skipper decided to fish a twin rig trawl and it was at this time when the NIFCA patrol vessel carried out its interception.  As for the AIS not transmitting inside the NIFCA district, Mr Fairbairn had this checked at the first opportunity and it was found to have a fault he was unaware of.

Mr Fairbairn’s solicitor also stated that as the twin rig trawl had only fished for a short period the environmental impact would have been negligible.

In passing sentence, the Magistrate did not accept there would have been no environmental impact from the offence and ordered Mr Fairbairn to pay £2000 fine, £2800 NIFCA costs £400 for a share of the value of the catch landed, as well as £170 victim surcharge, totalling £5,370.

NIFCA Chief Officer Alastair Browne said, “the court clearly took these breaches of NIFCA Byelaws seriously by imposing substantial financial penalties on to the Master”.

The Officers and Members of the NIFCA are determined to maintain the sustainability of the stocks in the district by constantly regulating not only National Legislation but local Byelaws to protect the future shellfish stocks both for the present and future generations.             

NIFCA are delighted to be supporting the Anglers National Line Recycling Scheme (ANLRS) in Northumberland. The scheme was launched in Sussex in 2016, then rolled out nationally in 2018 and aims to provide a route to recycle angling line including braided fishing lines, monofilament and fly lines. The aim is to establish an easy way to discard and recycle these lines to prevent them from ending up in the marine environment or landfill.  We routinely see angling lines washed up or discarded on beaches throughout the district, often tangled into balls with other debris. The line is extremely strong, does not breakdown easily, and is a threat to marine wildlife.

ANLRS hope to promote and spread the word about this work but need support from other organisations. NIFCA have donated £500 to the scheme and have purchased bins to be set up in tackle shops and other convenient locations along the coast. There are 263 tackle shops and over 70 freshwater fisheries currently signed up to the scheme around the country, so hopefully we can help bring it to the North East.  Anglers, or people who have collected discarded line, can deposit it into the bins. The locations of the bins can be found through the ANLRS website HERE.

NIFCA have also teamed up with Coast Care, a volunteer led organisation who conduct beach cleans in the Northumberland AONB. They regularly collect large quantities of discarded line from Northumberland beaches. All litter collected is recorded and so far this year over 750 bundles of angling line have been picked up. The Coast Care team are delighted to be part of the process to recycle this waste and keep it out of the marine environment.

All line will be collected and sent to be recycled. Various products have already been manufactured in the UK from the recycled line, line spools and single use plastics including bins and benches.

This is an excellent initiative and NIFCA wish it continued success and support in the future.

NIFCA are pleased to be able to share our 2018-19 Annual Research Report and 2019-20 Annual Research Plan. We hope you find them to be an interesting read. 

The issues of plastics in the marine environment is a crucial one and receiving the increasing public attention which it merits. NIFCA is therefore very pleased to announce the launch of its plastic policy which you can find HERE and we would welcome feedback and comments from stakeholders in relation to the NIFCA district.