Fishermen behind the "black fish" illegal catch scam have had £1.1m confiscated in a court order.

Four skippers pled guilty to not declaring catches and overfishing between 2002 and 2005, which resulted in the confiscation orders.

Fresh Catch Ltd and Alexander Buchan Ltd, both based in Peterhead, were hit with the orders, which included the largest seizure of assets from an individual in Scotland.

Ian Buchan, 55, master of the Quantas vessel, had £1m seized by the Crown at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday, while James Duthie, also 55, master of the Sunbeam ship, had £99,000 confiscated.

Fifty-year-old Stephen Bellany, master of the Unity vessel, had £64,612 seized and Oswald McRonald, 64, of the Quantas ship, had £23,669 confiscated.

After the court hearing, Lesley Thomson QC, the Solicitor General, said: "Serious and organised crime can take many forms and these individuals were involved in significant organised criminality. They put their own financial gain first and sought to obtain staggering amounts of money with blatant disregard for the impact such large scale overfishing would have.

"Our message is very clear that there is no place in Scotland for those who want a lifestyle funded by crime and we will continue to work closely with law enforcement agencies to use Proceeds of Crime laws to make Scotland an increasingly hostile place for these criminals."

Detective Superintendent Gordon Gibson of Grampian Police, who led the police investigation, added: "These investigations have been an excellent example of highly effective partnership working by a number of law enforcement bodies across Scotland and beyond.

"The significant sums of money seized under the Proceeds of Crime legislation clearly show that these men were involved in a highly organised criminal enterprise for their own profit. I look forward to the sizeable sums seized today, and indeed monies from the previous over fishing cases within this investigation being distributed to many worthwhile causes across our communities in Scotland."

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