Prosecution was “legalised blackmail” – Angry trawler skipper cleared of illegal fishing says case cost him £200,000

July 10, 2018 International News

A South Devon trawler owner cleared of illegal scallop fishing has lashed out at prosecutors who took him to court – in a case which has cost him more than £200,000. Derek Meredith, aged 50, and fellow skipper David Bickerstaff have been acquitted by a jury after a three-week trial. Mr Meredith, who owns the two boats at the centre of the case, said the prosecution had almost crippled him. He added that the two-year prosecution had cost him between £200,000 and £250,000 in lost business and legal fees. But a jury at Gloucester Crown Court acquitted him, Mr Bickerstaff and their companies of 16 counts. >click to read<09:55

"legalised blackmail", cleared of illegal fishing, David Bickerstaff, Derek Meredith, Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, have been acquitted, Judge Ian Lawrie, t Gloucester Crown Court

2 Responses to Prosecution was “legalised blackmail” – Angry trawler skipper cleared of illegal fishing says case cost him £200,000

Tony Fortnum says:

July 11, 2018 at 9:03 am

Well done mate. Took some balls that. IFCA’s are out of control. Won’t be happy until they put every hard working fisherman out of business.

Reply
- Eyoung says:
  
  July 11, 2018 at 10:43 am
  
  Well proud of my son it took guts to do this !
  
  Reply

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The New England groundfish debacle (Part III): who or what is at fault? Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet

It took me a while to decide how to most accurately describe the situation that has been visited upon the New England fishing communities that are and since colonial times have been dependent on the groundfish fisheries.

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here

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