Victory for Spanish Fishermen

Spanish Fishermen Win Legal Fight for Compensation

The ruling follows a decision by the European Court of Justice that it was illegal to stop the fishermen "quota hopping" which the previous government did under the terms of the 1988 Merchant Shipping Act.

The legal battle has been going on for nearly ten years. The Spanish were excluded from fishing under the UK's quota, and are claiming loss of income for the two year period of the ban.

The court awarded the Spanish compensation covering their loss of income, but stopped short of awarding 'exemplary damages' punishing the British Government. The judges said that breaches of Community law "were sufficiently serious to give rise to liability for any damage that may subsequently be shown to have been caused to the applicants".

Fight over falling fish stocks

The legal battle has been going on for nearly ten years. The Spanish were excluded from fishing under the UK's quota, and are claiming loss of income for the two year period of the ban.

The court awarded the Spanish compensation covering their loss of income, but stopped short of awarding 'exemplary damages' punishing the British Government. The judges said that breaches of Community law "were sufficiently serious to give rise to liability for any damage that may subsequently be shown to have been caused to the applicants".

The vessels' owners estimate that each boat lost between £350,000 and £500,000; if there is no appeal, the interest on those amounts could double the amounts the fishermen could expect to receive.

The High Court's ruling looks certain to provoke hostile reaction from the British fishing industry and from MPs whose constituencies include fishing ports.