It follows the recent W. Stevenson and Son case where the Newlyn firm was ordered to pay £710,000 in compensation following an earlier conviction of several illegal fishing offences. Part of the prosecution case alleged that more expensive fish such as cod and hake was listed in the paperwork as non quota species such as ling and bass.

Last month the Marine and Fisheries Agency brought a follow up case alleging that the company has benefiited by up to £4 million from the scam and asked the court for that compensation under the Proceeds of Crime Act, but the judge eventually awarded considerably less.

Now anger is growing that fishermen are being severly punished for what most people now regard as a thoroughly discredited system which is under urgent review by the EU. More than 1,000 people have signed a petition on the 10 Downing Street website calling for an end to the use of Proceeds of Crime legislation to punish fishermen.

The petition stated: 'The act is on the statute to strip assets from criminals who have amassed their wealth from criminal acts. Fishermen have amassed what little they have through work in the most harsh of conditions.' There is a growing feeling among fishermen that the penalties far exceed what most people would consider to be fair justice.

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