Trust's Dismay At 'Let-off'
Ruling
Read more in the
South Devon Herald
Express
News 26/06/2009
Newlyn-based fish firm escaped a heavy fine for
flouting strict EU quota rules after Judge Philip Wassall said
he had taken into account the "considerable" impact severe
penalties could have on the local
economy.
So-called 'black fish' from restricted
species such as cod or hake were put through the books as
other types of fish for which there was spare
quota.
This enabled the company to break European
rules designed to save dwindling fish stocks, the
prosecution said.
W Stevenson and Sons admitted 37 charges
of submitting a false sales note to the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(Defra).
The previous year, the company was found
guilty at Truro Crown Court of eight similar charges of
falsifying fish sales notes.
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