Fishermen operating off the South East coast regularly found large quantities of cannabis resin in their nets, dumped by drug traffickers to avoid capture by the Irish navy, the Circuit Criminal Court was told during the case in Waterford.

The decaying sea hash' was described as a hazard to fishing nets and it is being dredged up at a point some 40 kilometres off the coast in an area known to fishermen as The Jungle'.

Sergeant Allan Kissane said the defendant was the captain of a fishing trawler and was arrested as part of a drugs investigation at the North Wharf in Waterford.

In evidence, John Redmond said he was employed on fishing trawlers for the last 23 years. He worked his way up and obtained his skipper's certificate in 2003.

Fishing was now a dying trade due to the cost of oil and he would have to find a new job, he said. For most of is adult life he was a cannabis user, but stopped using it last January, the court heard.

He said the drugs found in his home came from the sea and had been in the house for three years.

Judge Fullam said he was satisfied that the defendant co-operated with Gardai and was unlikely to re-offend. He placed him on a probation bond for one year and made an order for the destruction of the seized drugs in the house.

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