Commercial fishermen from Ireland tampered with satellite transmitters so they could catch fish undetected in Cornish waters, a court heard yesterday.
Trawlermen Mr Eric Murphy and Mr Donal O'Neill appeared in Truro Crown Court, charged with failure to keep contact with fishing authorities while at sea in January.
Mr Seán Brunton, prosecuting on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said the two men deliberately tampered with transmitters on their vessels before trawling for mackerel in a protected zone near Falmouth.
Under EU legislation fishing vessels must have transmitters on board. They send an automatic hourly signal to fishing authorities showing the vessel's location.
On three occasions Mr Murphy and Mr O'Neill unscrewed the antennas to disable the signal before embarking on night-time fishing trips, the court heard.
Mr Murphy, of Dunboy, Castletownbere, Co Cork, and Mr O'Neill, of Gour, Castletownbere, Co Cork, were also charged with falsifying official log sheets.
The court heard they did not declare the correct quantity of mackerel - a protected species - caught by the vessels Eilean Croine and Sparkling Star in waters off Falmouth.
Mr Brunton said Mr O'Neill, owner and master of Sparkling Star, declared a catch of 50 tonnes of mackerel. Fishing inspectors later found 95 tonnes on board.
"Sparkling Star's catch of 100 tonnes - the vast majority of which was mackerel - was worth just under £30,000. This is big money, and it is important to play by the rules," he said.
Mr Brunton said the falsified log sheets and transmitters showed an attempt to fish illegally in a protected zone. "They are part of a deception to allow the defendants to fish in areas where they are not allowed to be and for fish that they are not allowed to catch," he said. The men have pleaded not guilty.
- (PA)