MANY sea anglers thought the Angling Trust would be just a mouthpiece for coarse and other freshwater anglers.

Now read on. Like myself, I imagine many stalwart sporting anglers from all branches of the sport are horrified at the judgement passed down in the W Stevenson and Sons case last week at Exeter.

The Newlyn-based fish firm escaped a heavy fine for flouting strict EU quota rules after Judge Philip Wassall said he had taken into account the "considerable" impact severe penalties could have on the local economy.

Judge Wassall sentenced the firm at Exeter Crown Court last week after the firm pleaded guilty to running a scam between April and September 2002 which involved falsifying landing documents to sell more expensive fish.

So-called 'black fish' from restricted species such as cod or hake were put through the books as other types of fish for which there was spare quota.

This enabled the company to break European rules designed to save dwindling fish stocks, the prosecution said.

W Stevenson and Sons admitted 37 charges of submitting a false sales note to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The previous year, the company was found guilty at Truro Crown Court of eight similar charges of falsifying fish sales notes.

The judge issued the firm with a confiscation order of £710,220 and also ordered it to pay prosecution costs of £66,413. However, he decided against a fine.

Judge Wassall said that, throughout the trial, he had "not lost of sight" of the fact that whatever happened in this case could have a "considerable" knock-on effect on others involved in the fishing industry in and around Newlyn.

He said: "There are simply not the resources for me to consider imposing fines that are really appropriate to the charges themselves."

The Angling Trust, our national governing body now recognised by Government and Sport England, has issued the following press release to inform members and the public of the possible repercussions of this judgement.

Read it and make your own mind up whether, as requested, to write or not. My pencil is ready sharpened, I hope yours is.

The Trust statement says: "In respect of this judgement our impression from previous cases is that a conditional discharge is in reality identified as 'a let-off'.

"In the past 18 months the Marine & Fisheries Agency (MFA) has had 22 major prosecutions in respect of the same or similar breaches of the regulations.

"These have resulted in fines totalling £2.63 million.

"This only compounds the decision in the Newlyn case and indicates the degree that the regulations are being abused.

"This systemic abuse comes at a time when European fish stocks are at an all-time low and the sustainability is in serious question.

"The implications of this recent judgement are far reaching and in effect give commercial fishermen the impression that they can now break fishing regulations in the knowledge that they will not face serious sanctions.

"We feel strongly that this endangers the interests of fish stocks and the future of recreational and commercial fishing in the UK.

"Recreational sea angling is a sustainable way of catching fish, as it does not involve trawling, which kills many undersized fish and can damage the sea bed so badly that the whole ecosystem's productivity is destroyed.

"Only fish which are required for personal consumption are taken by recreational anglers.

"The commercial fishing sector has made some progress to improve its environmental performance, but there is still widespread damage being caused and illegal fishing is common.

"We would recommend that all anglers – Trust members or not – should write to Marine and Fisheries Agency chief executive Nigel Gooding and urge the Agency to lodge an appeal as soon as possible so the case can be reviewed."

Details of how to do this, and a sample letter to use, will be available on www.anglingtrust.net shortly.

In a separate release, the Angling Trust has also welcomed the Marine and Coastal Access Bill. The Trust's full response can be found at the above website.