local work
successful Prosecutions for fisheries offences Joint enforcement operations targeting illegal fishing results in prosecution of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea couple
the 2024 MMO and IFCA offences at North Tyneside Magistrates Court on 16 April 2026, after which they were sentenced on the same date for the following offences: Landing European lobster below Minimum Conservation Reference Size Landing mutilated lobsters Landing egg-bearing lobsters Retaining and carrying berried Lobsters aboard their vessel Fishing within the NIFCA district other than in accordance with a NIFCA permit
On 11 September 2024, officers from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), NIFCA and Northumbria Police conducted a joint compliance patrol at the Port of Blyth following reports that the Andigee WY372 was repeatedly landing undersized shellfish. Officers inspected and measured a total of 250 lobsters seized from the vessel. Of these, 248 were found to be undersized, 28 were egg-bearing , and 2 had mutilated tails. Only 2 lobsters were compliant with legislation. On the 17 January 2025, officers from NIFCA and the MMO conducted inspections on static
fishing gear in the NIFCA district set from the Andigee WY372, which was not permitted to fish at the time. Officers seized 70 illegally set lobster pots that were not marked appropriately, and which were discovered to be storing 174 undersize lobsters one of which was egg-bearing. The defendants Brenda Denton, owner of, and Charles Michael Denton, master of, the vessel Andigee WY372 from Newbiggin- by-the-Sea, were found guilty of the 2025 IFCA offences at a trial at Newcastle Magistrates Court in December 2025. They entered guilty pleas on the day of trial to
Failing to display relevant information on fishing gear
These offences were in breach of legislation laid out in Fisheries Act 1981, the Sea Fish Conservation Act 1967 and the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 through NIFCA byelaws. The defendants received proportionate fines and costs totalling £6,060. They have also been disqualified from holding any IFCA permit for 3 years and forfeited the 70 pots seized by the Northumberland IFCA.
NIFCA Lead Enforcement Officer Nick Weir says: “NIFCA welcomes the court’s decision to disqualify Mr and Mrs Denton from holding any IFCA permit along with the fines and forfeiture ordered. NIFCA would like to thank our partners at the Marine Management Organisation along with Park Square Barristers and Andrew Jackson Solicitors for their ongoing support.”
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