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Fishing company admits quota scam |
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Saturday, 14 April 2007 |
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Britain's biggest privately-owned fishing firm has pleaded guilty to a
quota scam. Newlyn-based W Stevenson and Sons admitted 37 charges of
submitting a false sales note to the Department for the Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs.
The documents did not accurately indicate the quantity of each fish species landed through auction.
The charges brought by Defra against the Newlyn-based firm relate to a period between the spring and autumn of 2002.
One of the partners, Elizabeth Stevenson, was present at Exeter Crown Court for yesterday's hearing.
She is also president of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations.
Judge Philip Wassall adjourned the case for a confiscation hearing, to be held at Truro Crown Court in October.
Stevenson and Sons has a fleet of 35 vessels which go beam trawling, netting and trawling. The firm, which supplies fish to every major UK and European market, is also a fish merchant and auctioneers.
W Stevenson and Sons yesterday admitted the charges in a scam worth £141,000, which allowed them to catch more than their quota of expensive fish.
Newlyn auctioneer Julian Bick was convicted last year on four counts of aiding and abetting the Stevenson firm which now faces an unlimited fine as well as a further court hearing which could result in assets bought with "illegal" profits being confiscated.
However, there remains a huge question mark over the knock-on effect to the fishing port of Newlyn.
Stevenson and Sons, which has been in business since 1800, has a fleet of 35 vessels at Newlyn, around a fifth of the total number of boats. It is understood the firm is responsible for landing a large proportion of the fish at the market.
Commenting on the case, Paul Trebilcock, chief executive of the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation, said the case could have far-reaching consequences.
"Stevenson's are pivotal to the running of Newlyn as a port," he said. "They land between a third, sometimes a half, and in the winter months as much as three-quarters of the fish at the market."
Adding that he thought Defra had been "heavy-handed" in their handling of the case, Mr Trebilcock said that it would be "premature" to write off Newlyn as a viable port.
Outside the court, Miss Stevenson declined to comment in detail, instead reading a brief statement.
"The partners of W Stevenson and Sons anticipate that there will be a great deal to say when these complicated and convoluted proceedings are over, but for the moment we have nothing to add."
The charges followed an investigation by officers from the Marine and Fisheries Agency.
The scam involved the landing and selling of high value species such as cod, hake and anglerfish, which are subject to quota limits.
Their subsequent sale is believed to have netted the company a total of £141,000.
The long-running, multi-faceted case has been subject to a raft of reporting restrictions, which were lifted yesterday.
The WMN can now report that the Newlyn offices of the company as well as several homes were raided by officers from Defra earlier this year, who removed vast amounts of paperwork.
At a trial at Truro Crown Court last October, W Stevenson and Sons were found guilty of eight charges of submitting false sales notes to Defra, and not guilty of one.
Other skippers and boat co-owners who face sentencing for offences linked to the scam are due in court later this year.
A three-day confiscation hearing will take place at Truro Crown Court in October.
article copyright WESTERN MORNING NEWS
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