Fishermen Fined After Illegal Lobster and Crawfish Catch

A group of fishermen have been ordered to pay almost £10,000 in fines and court costs after admitting multiple fisheries offences.

Following investigations by Cornwall IFCA, four men appeared at Truro Magistrates’ Court on 1st April 2026.

James Bate, aged 36, of Padstow, Jay Jepson, aged 23, of Newquay, and Martin Gilbert, aged 61, of Newquay, all entered guilty pleas to fishing for berried lobsters and failing to return berried lobsters immediately to the sea.

Martin Gilbert and Jake Gilbert, aged 33, of Newquay, also pleaded guilty to fishing for undersized crawfish and fishing for crawfish without the authority of a fishing licence.

Jake Gilbert, who holds a Cornwall IFCA shellfish permit, further admitted failing to submit monthly shellfish returns data on three occasions.

Investigation Into Two Vessels

The prosecutions followed investigations into two fishing vessels, the Serene PW 17 and the Golden Lancer PW 15.

The Serene was skippered by James Bate, crewed by Jay Jepson, and owned by Martin Gilbert.

On 14th March 2025, Cornwall IFCA officers boarded the Padstow-based vessel at sea. They found a number of hand-brushes with lobster eggs lodged between the bristles. Although no berried lobsters were found on board at the time, officers suspected lobsters may have been scrubbed to remove eggs.

On 20th March 2025, officers observed the Serene from the shore and filmed James appearing to scrub eggs off female lobsters. When the vessel returned to Padstow, officers inspected the catch and found nine female lobsters with remains of unripe eggs attached, along with others that appeared to have been scrubbed clean. Hand-brushes on board also contained fresh unripe lobster eggs.

Crawfish Offences Near Newquay

The Golden Lancer was skippered by either Martin Gilbert or Jake Gilbert, who owned the vessel.

On 14th May 2025, the vessel stopped at a shellfish store-pot close to Newquay harbour. From ashore, an officer filmed crawfish being added to the pots before they were returned to the seabed. Jake Gilbert was the skipper at the time.

In 2025, it was illegal under licence conditions to fish for, retain or store crawfish in the south-west before 1st June.

On 20th May 2025, the Golden Lancer was again recorded stopping outside Newquay harbour. Fresh catch was added to store-pots and returned to the seabed, this time with Martin Gilbert as skipper.

The pots were later inspected from a Cornwall IFCA research vessel. Officers found 26 crawfish stored before the start of the season, including one undersized crawfish and five that had died. Four female lobsters without berries showed signs of having been scrubbed.

During the investigation, it was also found that mandatory monthly shellfish returns for March, April and May 2025 had not been submitted.

Fines and Response

Following their guilty pleas, Martin Gilbert was ordered to pay £3,993 in fines and costs, Jake Gilbert £3,938, and James Bate and Jay Jepson £948 each.

Simon Cadman, Principal Enforcement Officer for Cornwall IFCA, said:
“The sustainability of lobster and crawfish fisheries are important to many Cornwall based fishers, fishing businesses and coastal communities, which is why legislation is in place to control fishing effort and uptake.

“The blatant disregard for many of the rules which was highlighted by our investigations, is extremely disappointing when crustacean fisheries are under pressure from legitimate fishing. The discovery of multiple serious offences from two of the fishing vessels owned by either Martin Gilbert or Jake Gilbert is most concerning.

“I hope these court proceedings leading to many convictions will encourage them, their skippers and crew to fish responsibly in future.”