SHETLAND skipper Magnie Stewart (50) of the whitefish trawler Defiant LK371 told Lerwick Sheriff Court last week that fishermen were forced to manipulate regulations in an attempt to stay in business.
He pleaded guilty to wrongly reporting his fishing position in his logbook in June last year.
He said EU regulations were failing to protect fish stocks, which resulted in valuable fish either being dumped or being landed illegally.
Sheriff Colin Scott Mackenzie told Skipper Stewart that, although he had sympathy with the difficult position fishermen find themselves in, he had no alternative but to fine him £1000.
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