Unlicensed fishing suspicious activity reports statistics: EIR release

Information requested

• How many suspicious activity forms were submitted to Marine Scotland regarding illegal fishing activity at North Berwick in 2024?
• How many cases of illegal lobster fishing Marine Scotland have successfully prosecuted in the last 5 years?

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

82 suspicious activity reports about unlicensed fishing at North Berwick were received by the Marine Directorate (formerly Marine Scotland) in 2024. Please note that these are reports of suspected illegal or suspicious activity which are received from a range of sources and vary in accuracy. Therefore, they are not proof that an offence has been committed.

Formal prosecutions of fisheries offences are the responsibility of the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) who decide whether a case can proceed to trial or issue a fiscal fine, therefore the Marine Directorate does not undertake prosecutions itself. Where, following investigations into alleged breaches of fisheries legislation, it is determined that there is sufficient evidence, and that a prosecution is in the public interest, the Marine Directorate refer cases to the COPFS for consideration. Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) are civil fines which Marine Directorate are able to offer rather than pursuing a prosecution. Where an FPN is not paid, the case is referred to the COPFS.

During the last 5 years, Marine Directorate has investigated four cases of suspected unlicensed lobster fishing, following which three FPNs were issued, one of which was not paid and the case has been referred to COPFS for consideration of prosecution. An advisory letter was issued for a further case of suspected unlicensed lobster fishing.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.