§ Dr. Godmanasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many persons have been proceeded against for offences relating to illegal fishing at sea in each of the past five years; of what nationality these persons were; and what was the average penalty imposed.
§ Mr. MacGregor[pursuant to his reply, 4 July 1985]: The number of prosecutions by vessel nationality, for illegal fishing are as follows: 312W
Vessel nationality and number of prosecutions 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 British 39 58 54 47 36 Belgian — 3 2 — — Danish 2 8 2 6 2 Dutch — 4 1 — 1 Faroese — — — 1 1 French 3 10 1 3 1 German — 2 — — — Irish (Republic) 1 — 2 — — Norwegian — 1 — — — Spanish 3 9 6 2 12 Average penalties cannot readily be provided for all the years but in 1984 it was £2,796.