THIRTY-FOUR creels were destroyed in Loch Fyne after a trawler ploughed into them, Dunoon Sheriff court heard last Thursday.
Prawn trawler Adoration CN78 was seen from the shore to connect with buoys marking a fleet of creels lying about 200 yards off Inveraray. This, on May 21, 2008, was one of many alleged attacks by Adoration CN78 on creels set in upper Loch Fyne.
A Furnace creelboat operator has lost creels worth more than £30,000 over the last five years, the court heard.
Sheriff Leslie heard the skipper of Adoration CN78, Richard Johnstone Jnr (31) of 14F Davaar Avenue, Campbeltown, admit the charge of Failing to Keep a Proper Lookout. The court heard that Johnstone ensnared a fleet of creels  and lines set in water and towed the creels through the waters of Loch Fyne. He was fined £400, payable at £100 per month.
Captain Allan Marsh, Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) Enforcement Officer, said: “The MCA is satisfied at the outcome and hopes that trawler skippers see that failure to keep a proper lookout, which resulted in catching creel marker lines, not only caused loss and damage to the creel operator but posed a serious risk of danger to the trawler if the lines had snagged in the propeller.
“There is also a significant danger to the crew of the trawler as they cut free creels and lines which they have snagged.”

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