Skipper's mistake leads to £6K fine

DEFA takes hard line on scallop protection

The skipper of a fishing boat which plundered closed waters for king scallops has been fined.

Shane Byrne admitted a string of offences when he appeared before magistrates on Tuesday.

The Ramsey man claimed he 'hadn't properly understood' the rules when he was caught fishing off Douglas in May - having also failed to use appropriately-sized nets, submit a log or declare his location to the authorities.

Byrne was handed a £6,000 fine as well as surrendering his licence.

It's prompted a warning from the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture - which says future 'breaches of regulations will not be tolerated'.

It adds the closed water regulations 'allow fish stocks to recover', and are 'important for the long-term sustainability of the fishing industry'.