A gang of 10 fishermen have been convicted of illegally using electrical currents to catch razor clams.

Daniel Bracken Turner, 41, from Wittersham near Tenterden, and his firm, Daniel Turner Marine and Forestry Ltd, were prosecuted for electro-fishing in Cornish inshore waters, alongside numerous workers.

The activity was closed down after an investigation by the Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA).

Usually clams are collected by hand but using electric to force them out of the sand allows more to be collected by divers.

But the operation can rapidly decreased the population of razor clams in the area, a court heard.

Last month, after more than three years of court proceedings, the main defendant Turner and his company pleaded guilty to the charges.

They joined nine other defendants - who over recent months had changed their initial not guilty pleas, to guilty pleas.

“This method of fishing [...] can substantially deplete razor clams in an area very quickly...”

A further suspect who had to be dealt with separately, immediately pleaded guilty in the court in 2021.

The group were sentenced by Judge Simon Carr on Monday at Truro Crown Court with initial fines and costs of more than £28,750 to the majority of defendants.

The two sentences for Turner and his company have been delayed until September for a full report on financial assets and potential recovery under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

The defendants sentenced on June 26 included Luke Anderson, 44, of St. Margarets-at-Cliffe, near Dover, who must pay £6,000 in fines and costs, Marc Drew, 50, of Mousehole, Cornwall, who must pay £5,500 and Graeme Etheridge, 61, of Paul, Cornwall, who was ordered to pay £6,250.

Other defendants included David Thomasson, 52, of Bodmin, Cornwall, who must pay £8k and Ross Waters, 47, of St Buryan, Cornwall, who was ordered to pay £3k.

A further defendant, Jake Richardson, 26, of Beaminster, Dorset who was due to be sentenced failed to attend so an arrest warrant was issued.

Previously two other defendants Steven Corcoran, 46, of Motherwell, Scotland, and Simon Tester, 52, of Canterbury, had pleaded guilty and received conditional discharges.

In a statement released after the hearing, the IFCA said: "The actions taken by the authority and the fines so far handed down by the court, plus the forthcoming sentences for Turner and his company, should send a clear message that illegal fishing activities will be fully investigated and where there is clear evidence of intentional wrongdoing, it will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

"Electro-fishing for razor clams involves the use of electricity generators connected via a cable to an array of metal electrodes towed behind the boat to deliver an electrical current to the seabed.

"This causes razor clams to react by popping up out of their burrows.

“A diver following the vessel is then able to gather the animals by hand in large numbers.

"This method of fishing is far more efficient than hand-gathering alone and can substantially deplete razor clams in an area very quickly.

"The use of electrical current for fishing is prohibited in EU and UK waters, under EU legislation which has been adopted by the UK.”