Authorities urged to take action against ‘gangsters of the sea’
Alistair Carmichael has called for authorities to get tough on aggressive fishing vessels – describing them as “modern gangsters of the sea”.
The Orkney and Shetland MP singled out two foreign vessels – the Pesorsa Dos and the Antonio Maria – during a fishing debate in parliament on Thursday.
Both vessels have been caused concerns for Shetland fishing vessels after a series of dangerous encounters over recent years.
“Sooner or later, if such behaviour is allowed to continue, somebody will end up with a boat at the bottom of the sea,” Mr Carmichael said.
“Representations need to be made to the relevant authorities in Germany and France.
“Some effort has been made by ministers at the foreign, commonwealth and development office and the Department for Transport, but more needs to be done.
“We simply cannot leave our fishing industry unprotected in this way.
Mr Carmichael noted recent actions of the Irish authorities who “threw the book” at the Pesorsa Dos and her skipper.
“The Irish enforcement agents, when they were climbing on board, found that the ladder provided for them broke,” he said.
“That meant an immediate €10,000 fine for failing to provide safe access.
“The matter recently finished in the Irish courts with a series of fines and the forfeiture of gear worth £470,000.
“I suspect that will concentrate the minds of the owners and skippers of that boat better than the hand-wringing and legalism we have in this country.
“A bit more of that sort of enforcement would be enormously welcome.
“We all know that Al Capone was eventually done for tax evasion. Let us hope that the modern gangsters of the sea might be brought to book in a similar way, if not necessarily for the misdeeds themselves.”
Edward Higgins
This sort of thing has been happening since 1971 when Heath gave away our fishing waters. But even today our politicians are more interested in being seen as “good European’s” than doing thire jobs and prosecuting these thugs.