The environmentalists used the case of the five-metre Nina May to highlight how a handful of big companies control most of the UK’s fishing quota.

The investigation revealed that just three companies – including Interfish in Plymouth – own nearly two-thirds of England’s fishing quota.

Greenpeace said it spoke to Robin Carter, who runs F W S Carter Limited, which owns the Nina May along with 12 other, much larger vessels.

The WMN also contacted Mr Carter, who would not be interviewed over the phone but promised a face-to-face meeting next week.

According to the Greenpeace report, Mr Carter said that he transferred the Fixed Quota Allocation (FQA) licenses on to the tiny boat and then sends out his bigger boats to write off their catches against that allowance.

By doing that, his fishermen can essentially fish without risking being penalised on quota should they be caught breaking the rules, Greenpeace claimed.

Andy Wheeler from the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation was sceptical about “the way Greenpeace uses statistics”. “There are companies which own large amounts of quota because they own more boats than anyone else,” he said.

“For example, Dover sole is caught by beam trawlers, and most of the beam trawlers are owned by three companies.

“It’s not true that these companies own everything and no one else has anything.”

The research revealed how nearly two-thirds of England’s fishing rights have been snapped up by just three multi-million-pound fishing companies.

“Our investigation lays bare the true extent of the social and environmental injustice at the heart of our fishing industry,” Greenpeace UK head of oceans, Will McCallum, said. “As ministers are responsible for divvying up and doling out the UK’s fishing quota, this is a mess entirely of our government’s own making.

“Our fisheries minister should get on with sorting out the quota system so it works for our seas, fishers, and coastal communities.”

Local fishermen using small boats have long complained about the unfairness of the quota system. They make up the majority of England’s fishing fleet, but only have access to about 6% of the quota.

Plymouth based Johannes Jacob Colam owns 26% of all English FQA through his company Interfish Ltd and four of its subsidiaries.

Tomas Suchy, an Interfish worker, died in 2013 when a stack of frozen fish pallets fell on him. At Plymouth Crown Court in February this year the company admitted failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its employees in a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive.

Another company, Andrew Marr International Ltd, controls 12% of all the English fishing quota, including 61% of the quota in Cornwall.

The third is a Dutch conglomerate, which was fined for a fishing offence in UK waters last year.

Maeve McClenaghan, who carried out the research for Greenpeace, said: “They are playing the game by the rules as they are set out. Some people might question whether the rules set out by the government are fair and helpful.”