Cornish fishermen fined nearly £30,000 for electrocuting razors

Another suspect who had to be treated separately, he immediately pleaded guilty in court in 2021.

The group was sentenced by Judge Simon Carr on Monday at Truro Crown Court with initial fines and costs of more than £28,750 for most of the defendants with sentencing for the lead defendant to come later.

The two sentences for Turner and his company have been delayed until September for a full disclosure of financial assets and potential recovery under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Defendants sentenced on June 26 included Luke Anderson, 44, of St. Margarets-at-Cliffe, Kent, who is due to pay £6,000 in fines and costs, Marc Drew, 50, of Mousehole, Cornwall , who must pay £5,500 and Graeme Etheridge. , 61, from Paul, Cornwall, who was ordered to pay £6,250.

Other defendants included David Thomasson, 52, of Bodmin, Cornwall, who is required to pay £8k and Ross Waters, 47, of St Buryan, Cornwall, who has been ordered to pay £3k.

Another defendant, Jake Richardson, 26, of Beaminster, Dorset, who was due to be sentenced, did not attend, so a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Earlier, two other defendants, Steven Corcoran, 46, of Motherwell, Scotland, and Simon Tester, 52, of Canterbury, Kent, had pleaded guilty and received conditional discharges.

‘More efficient than manual harvesting’

In a statement issued after the hearing, IFCA said: “The actions taken by the authority and the fines handed down so far by the court, plus the upcoming sentences for Turner and his company, should send a clear message that the activities of Illegal fishing will be fully investigated and where there is clear evidence of willful misconduct, it will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

“Electric razor fishing involves the use of electricity generators connected via cable to a series of metal electrodes towed behind the boat to send an electrical current to the seabed.

“This causes the razors to react by coming out of their burrows.

“A diver following the vessel can hand-gather the animals in large numbers.

“This method of fishing is much more efficient than hand harvesting and can substantially deplete razors in an area very quickly.

“The use of electrical current for fishing is prohibited in EU and UK waters, under EU legislation which has been adopted by the UK.”