A Port Erin fisherman has been fined £1,700 after admitting lobster and crab catching offences.

Sixty-nine-year-old Philip Tasker recently appeared in court and pleaded guilty to three charges and was also ordered to pay £50 prosecution costs.

Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told the court that Fisheries Officers had boarded the vessel MFV CT14 Libra, in Port St Mary Bay, on October 2 last year.

They were observing the crew recovering lobster pots.

An inspection found that eleven pots had partially obscured escape hatches, three pots had no ID tags attached to them, and the surface marker for one string of pots was unmarked, all of which are offences under the Fisheries Act.

Tasker, who is the owner and master of the vessel, said: ‘It’s just a rush. I’m sure if you pulled up any other pots they would all be the same.’

The court heard that he has a previous conviction in 2013 for having eight pots with no escape hatches.

Defence advocate Paul Rodgers said that the latest offences were very technical, and the hatches had not deliberately been obscured.

The advocate said that Tasker, who lives at Marashen Crescent, had been in poor health and that the weather had been bad in the weeks prior to the offences, so the pots concerned had been down on the sea bed for a couple of weeks.

The court heard that the overall catch was around 20 lobsters, valued at £120, and that fisheries officers had not prevented the defendant from landing it.

Deputy High Bailiff Rachael Braidwood fined Tasker £1,200 for the escape hatch offence, £300 for the missing pot tags, and £200 for the unmarked string of pots.

He will pay the fines and costs at a rate of £70 per month.