Fish farmer fined

Prosecutions and Claims |
01.03.2007

The owners of a Scottish fish farm have been fined £5,500 following the death of 26-year-old marine Martin Blackley, who drowned while helping to clear a 16m-deep fish pen with a friend. Blackley became caught in ropes while clearing dead salmon from the cage and was unable to surface. Dingwall Sheriff Desmond Leslie said the owners of the Marine Harvest farm in Wester Ross had a "cavalier" attitude to safety, having heard they had supplied Blackley, who was on sick leave from 45 Commando, with no lifeline, no back-up oxygen and defective scuba equipment. Blackley was inexperienced and the dive team was too small.