A ten-strong gang of fishermen have been convicted for using electrical currents to catch razor clams and fined more than £20,000.

The Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA) has claimed a “huge victory” after closing down what it described as a “significant criminal enterprise.”

Company boss Daniel Bracken Turner, 41, of Wittersham, Kent, and his firm, Daniel Turner Marine &amp; Forestry Ltd, were prosecuted for illegally electro-fishing in Cornish inshore waters, alongside numerous workers.

The operation would have rapidly decreased the population of razor clams in the area, a court heard.

Usually, they are collected by hand but using electricity to force the clams out of the sand allows a significant amount more to be collected by divers.

Last month, after more than three years of court proceedings, the main defendant Mr Turner and his company pleaded guilty to charges of illegal fishing and other related crimes.&nbsp;

They joined nine other defendants - who over recent months had changed their initial not guilty pleas, to guilty pleas.

Using electric currents to force them from the seabed is illegal in EU and UK waters and can ‘rapidly decrease’ the shellfish’s population{ai:summary}<p>A gang of fishermen in Cornwall have been fined over £20,000 for using electrical currents to catch razor clams. The operation would have depleted the clam population in the area. #crime</p>

Cornish fishermen fined almost £30,000 for electrocuting razor clams

Loading...