A government scheme to compensate trawlermen who lost their jobs following the 1970s "cod wars" with Iceland was introduced without being thought through, MPs have found.
The Commons public accounts committee published a report into the scheme which was launched in 2000, decades after the industry collapsed in 1976.
Access to Icelandic waters was lost as part of a settlement to end clashes which had seen ships rammed and nets cut.
The committee's report followed an investigation by the parliamentary ombudsman last year, which found the government guilty of three counts of maladministration.
MPs said that the Department for Trade and Industry - now the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform - did not fully understand working practices in the industry when it devised the compensation scheme, and failed to consult widely enough with those involved.
More than £42m has been paid out to 4,400 former trawlermen and their dependents since 2000, but flaws in the scheme led to "long delays and frustration" for some claimants.
Committee chairman Edward Leigh said the scheme was "overly complicated and mirrored many of the mistakes made in a similar programme to compensate former coal miners suffering from ill health".
He added: "After 20 years of waiting, former trawlermen might have hoped that when a compensation scheme was finally announced it would be simple, practical and fair.
"Sadly, that has not been the case. After so long, it is incredible that the project seems to have been introduced before being fully thought through."
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