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THE STEVENSON family has spoken out about the "very
distressing" time during the investigation into its flouting of EU
quota rules.
Talking to The Cornishman
after the six-and-a-half-year-long case, which started in January 2002,
Elizabeth Stevenson, a partner in the business, said the period had
been very hard not just for her family and the partnership, but also
for all their employees, fishermen and anyone depending on the outcome
of the matter.
"During
the last six years we have tried to carry on with our business as usual
and attempt to lead a normal life," she said. "But is has been far from
easy for myself, my father, my uncle, my sisters, my cousins and all
our children and spouses.
"We
have had to endure many inaccurate stories in the press and I even had
to stand and watch as Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) raided
my home.
Not criminals
"Confiscation
proceedings were never meant for this type of offending. It was meant
for drug smugglers and fraudsters. As boat owners, fish merchants and
auctioneers we were not criminals living off the proceeds of crime. But
we were made to feel as if we were."
The
company was ordered to pay a confiscation order of £600,000 based on
the turnover generated from the offences, £110,000 adjustment for the
value of money, and prosecution costs of £66,000.
Mrs
Stevenson says the company will survive. "The motivation for the
misdescription of fish was not financial greed. It was survival. Many
in the industry were driven to it by economic necessity. Jobs and
livelihoods were at stake."
Improvements
W
Stevenson & Sons has pledged to take the judge's advice and
continue to work with the National Federation of Fishermen's
Organisations and the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation to play its
part in bringing out further improvements.
Mrs
Stevenson added: "The science has moved on in the last seven years and
there has been a great deal of work between the scientists and the
fishermen, and as a result the quotas are very much more in tune with
the fish stocks. W Stevenson & Sons played its part in bringing
about this improvement. We would now like to put all this behind us and
move on with our lives and concentrate on trying to get W Stevenson
& Sons back in the headlines for all the right reasons."
Following
the hearing Marine and Fisheries Agency chief executive, Nigel Gooding,
congratulated his fishery officers involved in the case for their long,
painstaking and detailed work. "This was an environmental and financial
crime," he said. "Quota was available for these species of fish
throughout the investigation period. The deception was done for
financial gain – not to avoid discarding fish. And these activities
both endangered fish stocks and penalised legal fishermen by depressing
prices."
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN
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