Navy

Royal Navy Investigating Crab Pot Claims

Angry Devonshire fishermen are demanding compensation after claiming that the German Navy has been snagging their crab pots.

The Royal Navy is investigating after it was alleged that the mammoth Die Bonn and Frankfurt Am Main supply ships have caused thousands of pounds of damage to fishing equipment off the coast of Plymouth.

The ships, which are both 174 metres long, were taking part in international exercises organised by the Royal Navy's Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) base in Plymouth.

Local fisherman Seb McDonald told the BBC:

“We have been losing a lot of gear due to the warships being around and towing over our lines, so we are losing pots as well as time and money.

“It’s been a bit of a nightmare. They think they have right of way. It’s a blatant disregard for us.”

Another fisherman, Lee Tapper, said he had lost £8,000 worth of equipment. He said:

“If the damage being inflicted on us was being inflicted on land or any other industry in the country, there would be complete uproar.”

His brother Brian added: “It’s horrendous at the moment. We are losing pots and fishing time – we won’t recover from it very quickly.”

Frankfurt am Main leaving Portsmouth in 2009. Photo: Brian Burnell

But a FOST spokesman said that at the moment it had “no evidence” that the ships had encroached on the fishing areas:

“We had meetings with the fishing community this summer and after those meetings we highlighted an area they would like our ships under training to keep clear of because of their fishing activity.

“We are currently investigating the allegations but at this time we have found no evidence to say that the ships encroached into the area we were advised to stay clear of. We are still awaiting completion of our investigation."

“If it is confirmed as our fault we recompense the individuals. We have to make sure we are certain that an incident has happened.

“But we are very keen to make sure that if something has gone wrong we will set things right.”