Steve Channing challenged the conditions which meant that he could only fish for scallops using dredges within the three- to 12-mile limit around the Guernsey coast.
He was prevented from any other type of fishing.
The Guernsey Court of Appeal ruled that the Commerce and Employment Department, which has responsibility for Sea Fisheries, had not complied with its statutory duty when determining the application for the vessel Prospector and had failed to take into account Mr Channing’s full fishing record.
It has ordered the department to reconsider the licence application.
Mr Channing was unsuccessful when he challenged the restrictions in Guernsey’s Royal Court earlier this year.
The latest appeal was against the judgment of Judge Russell Finch dated 19 February 2015.
The appeal heard that Mr Channing had been fishing in Guernsey waters all his working life.
In 1998 he bought a boat called Provider which he used for trawling, pair trawling, fishing for scallops and other forms of fishing within Guernsey’s 12-mile limit.
He bought another boat, Prospector, in February 2010.
When considering fishing licence applications, the department used a tracking period to check the fishing history in Guernsey waters of any particular applicant.
The department adopted the period from 15 May 2007 to 15 May 2010 in Mr Channing’s case.
Mr Channing began fishing with Prospector on 12 May 2010 and fished only for scallops within the three- to 12-mile limit during the last three days of the tracking period.
Advocate Gordon said that the department had failed to take into account Mr Channing’s full fishing record, of which it had been aware.
A judgment from the Court of Appeal in Guernsey stated: ‘We shall direct the department and its officers to redetermine the application for a fishing licence made by the appellant in respect of the vessel Prospector, taking fully into account the record of the appellant in fishing in bailiwick fishery limits for whatever species and using whatever fishing methods, and to have regard to that record whether during the tracking period adopted by the Department or otherwise, whether with the vessel Prospector, the vessel Provider, or with any other vessel.’
Deputy Carolyn Labey, who has campaigned for Jersey fishermen’s right for years, welcomed the court’s ruling.
She said: ‘This has been a long and expensive road for Mr Channing.
‘He took on the Guernsey authorities with their comparative and seemingly bottomless pit of money they apparently have to take our fishermen to court.
‘But we both knew that he was right and justice prevailed in the end.’
- Scallops swim by quickly opening and closing their shells to propel themselves through the water
- They have up to 100 eyes that help them detect light and movement
- Scallops feed by filtering tiny organisms from sea water
- The meaty, fleshy part of the scallop enjoyed by many diners is the creatures adductor muscle that is used to clamp the scallops shell closed
- The scallop shell has come to be a general symbol of pilgrimage and can be seen on Winston Churchills familys coat of arms
