Photo by Jemima Whyles
The owners and masters of two under-10 metre Cornish fishing vessels have been fined a total of £12,375 following prosecutions brought by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) for exceeding their monthly pollack quota in Area 7. The cases were heard at Bodmin Magistrates Court on 19 May 2026.
The Kerry Marie
Berlewen Fishing and Leisure Limited, owner of Kerry Marie NN795, and its then master William Paul Chapman, admitted one charge of breaching their licence by overfishing pollack in February 2024. Catch data showed the vessel had exceeded its quota by over 200% on 7 February. Despite this, it went out again on 19 February, knowingly over quota, returning with a catch a further 79% above the permitted limit. MMO officers had already issued a Financial Administrative Penalty, which the owner and master refused to pay, leading to the court hearing.
Berlewen Fishing and Leisure Limited was fined £3,000 with a surcharge of £1,200 and costs of £2,038.05, plus an additional fine of £1,516.60 to the value of the fish. Master William Paul Chapman was fined £1,204 with a £410 surcharge and £500 in costs.
The Annie May
Bomaris Ltd, owner of Annie May PZ71, and its then master James Mitchell pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching their licence by overfishing pollack in March 2024. Sales and catch records showed the vessel exceeded its quota by 189% across five trips – catching almost triple the permitted amount. The MMO submitted to the court that this was deliberate offending in which the owner and master flagrantly disregarded the law, making no attempt to lease additional quota after the first or any subsequent breach.
Bomaris Ltd was fined £3,000 with a £1,200 surcharge and costs of £4,856.05, plus a further fine of £881.69 to the value of the fish. Master James Mitchell was fined £2,954 with a £1,182.20 surcharge and £500 in costs.
MMO signals continued enforcement
After the hearings, Libby Naylor, MMO’s Head of Investigations & Intelligence, said: “We want to make sure that fishermen who play by the rules are not disadvantaged by the small minority who flout them. There were steps the defendants could have taken to have avoided overfishing their quota and they failed to do so. That is why they ended up in court. We will support fishermen to comply with their licence conditions and regulations but we will not hesitate to take action where we find flagrant or repeated breaches of the rules.”
Both cases were identified through routine MMO checks of sales notes and catch data – a reminder that quota compliance monitoring remains active across the under-10 metre fleet.