Three fishermen were given suspended sentences and fined $12,000 each yesterday for using illegal fish pots in a sophisticated scheme to avoid Marine Police.

Andrew Daniel Farias, 34, Michael David Barnes, 40, and Michael Stephan Joel, 43, had originally faced more than 20 charges arising out of a two-month undercover Marine Police operation.

Yesterday, the Crown allowed them to plead guilty to three charges each of possessing illegal fish pots between January 12 and February 21 this year. The Crown offered no evidence on 13 other charges.

Acting Magistrate Justin Williams sentenced the fishermen to $4,000 on each offence and gave them a three-month prison sentence suspended for a year. He could have jailed them for up to a year and fined them $5,000 on each count.

Court slams fishermen with huge fines, suspended sentences He also ordered the forfeiture of their fish pots and other equipment -- including sophisticated global satellite position system (GPS) equipment used to pinpoint the location of the illegal pots -- but did not order the confiscation of the boat the men were using, The Lone Star .

The boat is owned by Mr. Farias' father, Danny Farias, the former chairman of the Marine Resources Board.

Government banned fish pots in 1990 to help replenish rapidly diminishing fish stocks, but Farias, Barnes and Joel used the traps, which indiscriminately catch fish.

Marine Police gathered 16 hours of videotape evidence against the defendants during a two-month operation.

Imposing a suspended custodial sentence, Mr. Williams told the defendants' lawyer Mark Diel: "If I don't have some form of deterrent as part of the sentence, your clients might be susceptible to going out and doing it again.'' Crown counsel Graveney Bannister told the court Marine Police took video evidence during a two-month operation.

He said the evidence showed activity on the boats but it could not identify individuals, so officers sailed beside the vessels to visually identify the offenders.

The Lone Star was seen in the areas on the dates specified and Farias, of Flat Rock Lane, Pembroke, Barnes, of Fourth Avenue, Pembroke, and Joel, of Alexandria Lane, Hamilton Parish, were crew.

He said they were seen hauling in and emptying the banned fish pots, but that they also had legal lobster pots.

The lobster pots were clearly marked, but fish pots were not, so the fish pots were located near landmarks or recovered using the GPS system.

Mr. Bannister said GPS that was seized had geographical co-ordinates on it identifying fish pots. He said: "In sentencing I would like you to take into consideration the gravity of the offence. It was a sophisticated scheme.'' Mr. Diel said that Barnes had had his commercial fishing licence revoked by Environment Minister Arthur Hodgson earlier.

"These individuals have lost their livelihoods. These people have already been penalised substantially,'' he said.

"The reason why the plea comes at the last minute was because until Friday of last week my learned friend and I had were deadlocked in relation to the counts that have been dropped. This is not a last minute change of heart.

"In the January 10 offence, there is no evidence to identify these individuals at all. These gentlemen are owning up to January 10 and that should be taken into account.''