The men, Victor Good, aged 68, Trevor Mole, aged 56 and 48-year-old Stephen Barnes, were prosecuted by the Marine and Fisheries Agency for catching and landing 19 tonnes of sole for which they had no EU quota.

When they appeared at Ipswich Crown Court the men were fined a total of £42,500 plus costs totalling £27,646. But that is not all - they also agreed to the confiscation of their assets ( vessels and fishing gear etc) under the Proceeds of Crime Act, to a total of £213,000 and now look set to lose everything they possess..

The scale of the penalty has caused anger among fishermen in many parts of the country.

Christopher Booker, the Sunday Telegraph's anti EU commentator said the Marine and Fisheries Agency invoked a law designed to confiscate the assets of drugs dealers and other dangerous criminals. Yet these fishermen had been denied a quota sufficient to earn them even a modest living.

In their defence, the men said they were aware that a large UK quota had been allocated to Dutch 'flag' boats, but was no longer being fished for and was therefore unlikely to be caught. The Judge in the case said that 'the regulations are there for a purpose and are not perfect. But they were there to preserve stocks so that the UK and Europe can continue to enjoy fish'.

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