A fishing vessel operator in Scotland has been fined £2,700 after breaching a court order designed to reduce the risk of human trafficking and exploitation at sea, showing that the victims of the fishing industry are not only nonhuman animals.
Thomas Nicholson admitted failing to comply with a Trafficking and Exploitation Risk Order (TERO), a legal measure imposed in October 2022 while authorities investigated allegations linked to his company, TN Trawlers, based in Annan. The order required Nicholson to provide detailed information about crew members, particularly non-European workers, before vessels in his fleet could depart, and restricted his involvement with certain boats.
Dumfries Sheriff Court heard that Nicholson failed to notify authorities when one of his vessels, the Olivia Jean, was moved from the Netherlands to Buckie in Moray, and did not submit the required crew documentation. Sheriff Euan Cameron described the breach as being at the “lower end” of harm, adding a £175 victim surcharge to the financial penalty.
The case is connected to a wider investigation into alleged exploitation within the UK fishing sector. A BBC investigation previously identified 35 men working across Nicholson’s fleet who were later officially recognised by the UK Home Office as victims of modern slavery.
Just days before Nicholson’s sentencing, his son, Tom Nicholson Jr, pleaded guilty in a separate case involving the treatment of five Ghanaian men aboard the Sea Lady vessel in 2017. The court was told the workers endured severe conditions, including insufficient food and rest.
Evidence presented in court detailed how the men were forced to work continuously, creating a “secret rota” to share limited rest and consuming animals from the vessel’s catch to survive.
The Olivia Jean had previously been linked to a 2020 rescue operation involving Ghanaian crew members, who were later awarded £20,000 each in compensation by the UK government.
