French fisherman is fined £1,500 for illegal fishing off Jersey

The owner of a French vessel has been fined £1,500 after being caught fishing in an unauthorised area off Jersey.

Morgan Lecuyer, skipper of the St Malo registered Penn Kalet, was illegally fishing for spider crabs.

Only a limited number of French vessels have authority to work in the area to the north of the island.

Jersey fishermen alerted the authorities and satellite monitoring was used to confirm the vessel had been fishing there in July 2011.

The environment department said Mr Lecuyer was cooperative throughout and attended the island voluntarily for interview.

Mike Smith, leader of the environment department's marine resources section, said the prosecution was evidence of the partnership between the department and local fisherman.

He said: "At a registered tonnage of 62 tonnes, the Penn Kalet is a relatively large fishing vessel and we would like to thank the Jersey fisherman who brought her presence in this area to our attention."