Vessels caught illegally fishing: EIR release

FOI reference: FOI/18/00130
Date received: 16 January 2018
Date responded: 12 February 2018

Information requested

• How many vessels have been caught illegally fishing, in the 17 inshore Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and 25 Inshore Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), for the years, a) 2007, b) 2008, c) 2009, d) 2010, e) 2011, f) 2012, g) 2013, h) 2014, i) 2015, j) 2016, and k) 2017?

You further clarified that "caught" meant whose presence in the MPA or SAC has been proven in a court of law and a sentence has been passed

Response

I enclose a copy of all of the information you requested. The answer to your question is:

Year	Convicted	Paid FPN	Issued warning letter	Totals
2007	1	0	0	1
2008	0	0	0	0
2009	0	0	0	0
2010	1	0	0	1
2011	0	1	0	1
2012	0	0	0	0
2013	0	0	0	0
2014	1	0	0	1
2015	0	0	0	0
2016	0	1	0	1
2017	0	1	1	2

In addition to numbers of those convicted, I have included numbers of those offered and who paid a Fixed Penalty Notice in lieu of court action, and those sent a warning letter. The reason for this is that under Marine Scotland Compliance policies, all of these disposals require the same burden of proof as those that would be considered in a court.

The numbers relate to the dates of detection of offence. Depending on when that was, any actual conviction or payment of penalty may have been in subsequent years.

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