Brothers fined for illegal crab fishing

Both men plead guilty

Two brothers from Castletown have been given heavy fines after fishing illegally for crabs.

Fifty-three-year-old Iain David Quine, of Malew Street, and 57-year-old Robert Michael Quine, of Hope Street, appeared before High Bailiff Jayne Hughes at Douglas Courthouse.

Both men pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching the Island’s lobster and crab-fishing by-laws.

Prosecutor Hazel Carroon said government fisheries officers began investigating after they found a number of untagged pots off the Island’s south coast within the three-mile limit.

The court heard the duo cooperated fully with the probe by the Department of Environment, Fisheries and Agriculture and told officers they were using 720 pots.

Their licence, however, meant they should have been using just 300 and many weren't tagged as required by law.

Each was fined £7,500 for each offence, making a total of £30,000 in fines.

They were also both ordered to pay £125 costs, and 50 pots seized during the investigation - worth around £70 each - were also forfeited.