This is the latest development in a long-running saga involving TN Trawlers and allegations of modern slavery throughout the 2010s.
In August 2024, a three-year investigation by Disclosure and File on 4 featured testimony from former TN workers from Ghana, India and the Philippines.
The men alleged mistreatment while working aboard vessels in the Annan-based fleet.
The identified 35 foreign men who worked for TN Trawlers and who were later recognised by the UK Home Office as victims of modern slavery.
In October 2024, another group of fishermen from Ghana were awarded £20,000 each in compensation by the UK government.
The crew were rescued in 2020 from the scallop-trawler Olivia Jean, also owned by TN Trawlers.
In June, company owner Thomas Nicholson – father of Tom Nicholson Jr – was fined £2,700 for breaching a Trafficking and Exploitation Risk Order (Tero).
It was the first conviction of its kind in Scottish legal history.
Nicholson had been served with the Tero – which placed restrictions on his business activities – while he was the focus of a Home Office-led inquiry into human trafficking.
TN Trawlers had denied any allegation of modern slavery or human trafficking and said its workers were well-treated and well-paid.
