Onchan man fined after fishing pots failed to comply with regulations

DEFA vessel found four strings of pots with faulty escape hatches and missing identity tags

A fisherman from Onchan has been fined £2,000 after his fishing pots were found not to comply with regulations.

Mark William Thomas of Harbour Road pleaded guilty to two offences after a number of his pots had faulty escape hatches and missing tags.

A Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture vessel inspected four strings of pots from Thomas's vessel in January.

Each string was found to have a number of pots with missing labels identifying which vessel they're from, while a number had partly obstructed escape hatches, which are required to allow undersized fish to escape in order to protect stocks.

The 62-year-old's advocate said he'd bought the equipment second hand and hadn't inspected it, describing the escape hatch issue as 'inadvertent' and 'an oversight'.

He added that the pots had been in Douglas Bay since October 2024, and the identity tags may have come off during named storms over the winter.

Deputy High Bailiff Rachael Braidwood fined Thomas £1,500 for the hatch offence, £500 for the tag issue and ordered him to pay £50 in prosecution costs.