A man was fined £100 at Beverley Magistrates’ Court today, after pleading guilty to the possession of an illegal fishing net.
Harvey Laurence Holbrook, aged 66 of the Old Joiners Shop, West End, Ulrome, was ordered to pay costs of £200 to the Environment Agency, which brought the case. Holbrook was also asked to forfeit his net and the fish caught.
Jill Fogg, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, said Holbrook was found with an illegal fishing net on the beach at Rolston, Hornsea on 13 July 2006. Environment Agency fisheries officers saw Holbrook take a sea trout from one of two nets on the beach and put it into the back of his car.
Holbrook was a licensed netsman, but only held a licence for one net.
In mitigation, he entered an early guilty plea, he had one licensed net, and said he was using a second net to improve his catch. He also said that he was only intending to fish for sole, and not sea trout.
Speaking after the case, Environment Agency fisheries technical officer Pete Turner said: “We regularly do patrols of fisheries across the region and will always take action against anyone using fishing equipment without a relevant licence.â€
