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2003 No. 59

AGRICULTURE

The Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order (Northern Ireland) 2003

  Made 7th February 2003 
  Coming into operation 8th February 2003 

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 30(2) of the Fisheries Act 1981[1] and now vested in it[2] makes the following Order:

Title, commencement, extent and application
     1.  - (1) This Order may be cited as the Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order 2003 and shall come into operation on 8th February 2003.

    (2) Subject to paragraph (3), this Order shall not form part of the law of England, Scotland or Wales.

    (3) Nothing in paragraph (2) shall be treated as prejudicing in the rest of the United Kingdom the effect of section 30(2A)[
3] of the Fisheries Act 1981 in relation to, or for purposes incidental to, any provision which creates an offence.

    (4) This Order does not apply to any fishing boat which is less than 10 metres in overall length within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Annex XVII.

Interpretation
     2.  - (1) In this Order -

    (2) In this Order -

    (3) Any information provided to any authority for the purposes of any provision of this Order shall be treated as also provided for the purposes of any equivalent provision.

Absences from port etc
     3.  - (1) Subject to regulation 4, a person in charge of a relevant British fishing boat which, during any part of the period specified in paragraph 1 (duration of controls) of Annex XVII, either -

is guilty of an offence.

    (2) In this Order, the person in charge of a relevant British fishing boat is its owner, master or charterer (if any), and the number of days permitted to such a boat for any period identified below is the basic number, that is to say -

cumulatively adjusted in accordance with the following provisions of this Article.

    (3) In relation to any relevant British fishing boat and in respect of any type of fishing gear it may carry, there is -

    (4) Where a number of days is transferred from one period to the next in accordance with Article 5, that number is -

    (5) Where a number of days is transferred in the same period from a donor to a recipient in accordance with Article 6, that number is -

    (6) Where during any period fishing gear is affixed to two or more fishing boats there shall be deducted from the basic number for each such boat that is a relevant British fishing boat in relation to that gear and that period a number of days equal to the number when it was absent from port but the gear was being carried by any other such boat.

    (7) Where during any period a relevant British fishing boat has purported to transfer days relating to fishing gear in accordance with Article 6 in excess of its unused days, there shall be deducted from its basic number relating to that gear for the next period a number equal to the number of days in that excess.

    (8) Where during any period a relevant British fishing boat has been absent from port carrying fishing gear in excess of the days permitted to it by this Article, there shall be deducted from its basic number relating to that gear for the next period a number equal to the number of days in that excess unless, in consequence of the operation of Article 4, the absence in question would not be an offence.

    (9) In any proceedings for an offence under paragraph (1)(b) of this Article, it shall be a defence for a person to show that the number of days of absence from port carrying any type of fishing gear comprising the offence was no greater than the number of days of absence carrying that gear purportedly but not validly transferred to him under Article 6 and -

that the donor was not entitled to transfer them.

    (10) In this Article, the relevant prohibition in paragraph 6(a) of Annex XVII is the prohibition on absence from port carrying the gear defined in paragraph 4(b) of Annex XVII in the area defined in paragraph 2(a) of Annex XVII, and the remainder of paragraph 6(a) of Annex XVII is paragraph 6(a) save as covered by the relevant prohibition.

Exception in relation to absences from ports etc.
    
4.  - (1) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under Article 3(1) in respect of an activity relating to a boat in a period specified in Article 3(2)(b) if -

Transfer of days from one period to another
    
5.  - (1) Transfer of unused days by any relevant British fishing boat from one period to the next for the purposes of paragraph 10(a) of Annex XVII is permitted and shall have effect, to the extent specified in paragraph (2).

    (2) The number of days transferred in relation to the boat for any type of fishing gear from one period to the next is the maximum number of unused days which may be permitted to be so transferred for that gear under paragraph 10(a) of Annex XVII, rounded down to the nearest whole number.

Transfer of days from one boat to another
    
6.  - (1) Transfer of unused days within the same period from one British fishing boat ('the donor') to another ('the recipient') for the purposes of paragraph 10(b) of Annex XVII, where either the donor or the recipient is, or both are, a relevant British fishing boat, is permitted, subject to paragraphs (3) to (5) of this Article, to the extent specified in a notification of transfer sent under paragraph (2) of this Article or under any equivalent provision.

    (2) Where the donor is a relevant British fishing boat, a notification of transfer, which must be made in the form set out in Schedule 1 and contain all the particulars required by that form, must be signed by the donor's owner (or, as the case may be, each part owner) and sent to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development before the end of the period in question.

    (3) A transfer is not permitted if -

    (4) If, before this Order comes into force, the donor has not submitted a logbook containing an entry showing that it was fishing in any of the areas specified in paragraph 2 of Annex XVII with a type of fishing gear specified in paragraph 4 of Annex XVII at any time during the year 2001 or 2002, then a transfer is not permitted.

    (5) The number of days transferred for any type of fishing gear in a specified period is whichever is the smaller of:

    (6) A person who makes a false statement in a notification under paragraph (2) of this Article is guilty of an offence.

    (7) In Schedule 1 -

Amendment of the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) Order 2000 pursuant to paragraph 12 of Annex XVII
     7.  - (1) Insofar as it extends to Northern Ireland, the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) Order 2000[15] is amended by:

Landing of cod
     8.  - (1) The competent authority for the purposes of paragraph 13 of Annex XVII (advance notice of landing of cod in excess of 1 tonne) is the authority responsible for the control of sea fisheries in the country in which the landing is to take place.

    (2) For landings in the United Kingdom the ports, and where applicable the landing locations within them, designated for the purposes of paragraph 14 of Annex XVII (landing of cod in excess of 2 tonnes) are listed in Schedule 2.

    (3) Where there is, in respect of -

a failure to comply with, or with a requirement given under, paragraph 13 of Annex XVII, the master, his representative, the owner and the charterer (if any) are guilty of an offence.

    (4) A person in charge of -

pursuant to a contravention of paragraph 14 of Annex XVII, as read (so far as concerns landing in the United Kingdom) with paragraph (2) of this Article, is guilty of an offence.

Mixing of species
    
9. A person in charge of -

which retains species in contravention of paragraph 17 of Annex XVII (retention on board of cod and other species in same containers), is guilty of an offence.

Transportation of cod
    
10. Where any quantities of cod are transported in contravention of paragraph 20 of Annex XVII (transportation of cod to be accompanied by a landing declaration), the owner and hirer of, and the person responsible for, the vehicle used to transport the cod is guilty of an offence.

Maintenance of logbooks
    
11.  - (1) An entry shall be made in the logbook of any relevant British fishing boat which is absent from port carrying any of the gear specified in paragraph 4 of Annex XVII but not fishing as specified in Article 6 of Regulation 2847/93, in respect of each particular which would be required to be entered by that Article (as amplified by Regulation 2807/83) were the boat so fishing, and such an entry shall state the type of fishing gear carried.

    (2) Such an entry shall be made -

and the requirements of those Regulations for handing over and dispatch of logbook entries shall apply to the entries required by this Article as they apply to other entries.

    (3) Where there is, in respect of a relevant British fishing boat, a failure to make an entry required by this Article, or to comply with requirements for handing over and dispatch referred to in this Article, the person in charge of that fishing boat is guilty of an offence.

Penalties
    
12.  - (1) A person guilty in Northern Ireland of an offence under Article 3(1), 6(6), 8, 9, 10 or 11 of this Order, or under any equivalent provision shall be liable -

    (2) The court by or before which a person is convicted of an offence under Article may order the forfeiture of:

    (3) Any person found guilty of an offence under Article 3(1), 8 or 9 or under any equivalent provision shall, subject to the following provisions of this Article, be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the value of the fish in respect of which the offence was committed.

    (4) A person shall not be liable to a fine under paragraph (3) in respect of such an offence if, under paragraph (2), the court orders the forfeiture of the fish in respect of which that offence was committed; and where a fine is imposed under paragraph (3) in respect of any offence, the court shall not have power under paragraph (2) to order the forfeiture of the fish in respect of which the offence was committed.

    (5) Subject to paragraph (4), any fine to which a person is liable under paragraph (3) shall be in addition to any other penalty (whether pecuniary or otherwise) to which he is liable in respect of that offence under this Article.

Recovery of fines
    
13.  - (1) Where a fine is imposed by a magistrates' court in Northern Ireland on the master, owner or charterer, of a fishing boat who is convicted by the court of an offence under this Order or any equivalent provision, the court may -

    (2) Articles 114(2) and 154 of the Magistrates Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981[16] (postponement of issue of certain warrants and objections as to want of form or variance between complaint etc. and evidence adduced) shall apply to a warrant of distress issued under this Article in Northern Ireland as they apply to a warrant referred to in those Articles of that order.

    (3) Where, in relation to a fine in respect of an offence under this Order or any equivalent provision, an order under legislation extending to England, Scotland or Wales, reciprocally replicating the effect of an order under Article 95 of the Magistrates Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 specifies a petty sessions district in Northern Ireland, the preceding provisions of this Article shall apply as if the fine were imposed by a court within that petty sessions district.

Powers of British sea-fishery officers in relation to fishing boats
     14.  - (1) For the purpose of enforcing Articles 3 to 9 and 11 of this Order or any equivalent provisions, or to facilitate the cross-checking provided for in paragraph 18 of Annex XVII, any British sea-fishery officer may exercise the powers conferred by this Article in relation to -

    (2) He may go on board the boat, with or without persons assigned to assist him in his duties, and may require the boat to stop and do anything else which will facilitate either the boarding of, or the disembarkation from, the boat.

    (3) He may require the attendance of the master and other persons on board the boat and may make any examination and inquiry which appears to him to be necessary for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (1) of this Article and, in particular -

but nothing in sub-paragraph (f) above shall permit any document required by law to be carried on board the boat to be seized and detained except while the boat is detained in a port.

    (4) Where it appears to a British sea-fishery officer that an offence under Article 3(1), 8, 9 or 11 of this Order or any equivalent provisions has at any time been committed, he may -

and where such an officer detains or requires the detention of a boat he shall serve on the master a notice in writing stating that the boat will be or is required to be detained until the notice is withdrawn by the service on the master of a further notice in writing signed by a British sea-fishery officer.

Powers of British sea-fishery officers on land
    
15.  - (1) For the purpose of enforcing Articles 3 to 11 of this Order or any equivalent provisions, or to facilitate the cross-checking provided for in paragraph 18 of Annex XVII, any British sea-fishery officer may -

    (2) The provisions of paragraph (1) above shall also apply in relation to any land used in connection with any of the activities described in paragraph (1) above, or in respect of any vehicle which a British sea-fishery officer has reasonable cause to believe is being used to transport fisheries products, as they apply in relation to premises and, in the case of a vehicle, shall include power to require the vehicle to stop at any time and, if necessary, direct the vehicle to some other place to facilitate the inspection.

    (3) If in Northern Ireland a justice of the peace on sworn information in writing is satisfied -

Powers of British sea-fishery officers to seize fish and fishing gear
    
16.  - (1) This Article applies -

    (2) Where this Article applies, any British sea-fishery officer may seize -

Protection of officers
    
17. An officer or a person assisting him by virtue of Article 14(2) or 15(1)(b), or authorisation under Article 15(3), of this Order shall not be liable in any civil or criminal proceedings for anything done in the purported exercise of the powers conferred on him by Articles 14 and 15 of this Order if the court is satisfied that the act was done in good faith, that there were reasonable grounds for doing it and that it was done with reasonable skill and care.

Obstruction of officers
    
18.  - (1) Any person who -

is guilty of an offence.

    (2) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) is liable -

Provisions as to offences
    
19.  - (1) Where any offence under Article 3(1), 6(6), 8, 9, 10 or 11 of this Order or any equivalent provision committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or a person purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

    (2) Where any offence under Article 3(1), 6(6), 8, 9, 10 or 11 of this Order or any equivalent provision committed by a partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a partner, he as well as the partnership shall be guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

    (3) Where any offence under Article 3(1), 6(6) 8, 9, 10 or 11 of this Order or any equivalent provision committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership) is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any officer of the association or any member of its governing body, he as well as the association shall be guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Admissibility in evidence of logbooks and other documents
    
20.  - (1) Any -

of Regulation 2847/93 shall, in any proceedings in Northern Ireland for an offence under this Order or any equivalent provisions, be evidence of the matters stated therein and so shall any additional entry in a logbook made pursuant to this Order.

    (2) For the purpose of paragraph (1), "required information" shall mean -

as communicated via a satellite-based vessel monitoring system established under Article 3(1) of Regulation 2847/93.



Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on


8th February 2003.

L.S.


Noel Cornick
A senior officer of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development


SCHEDULE 1
Article 6(2)


TRANSFER OF DAYS AT SEA FOR USE IN THE COD RECOVERY ZONE


Departmental Transfer Number opensquare

I (we) the undersigned declare that all and any entitlement, including any future claim, to any of the days referred to below is hereby surrendered.

Donor Vessel Details RSS No. opensquare
Name opensquare PLN opensquare
Management Period From opensquare to opensquare


Recipient Vessel(s) Details
Vessel Name[17] PLN[18] RSS No.[19] Days to be Transferred  
               Total Days Of which "x" days may be used with demersal trawls of =>100mm3  
                         Days
                         Days
                         Days
                         Days
                         Days
Total Days to be Transferred           Days

I (we):
  • Request the transfer specified above be actioned

  • Declare that the days referred to above have been legitimately generated through activity in the cod recovery areas specified under Annex XVII to Council Regulation (EC) 2341/2002

  • Understand that the Fisheries Departments may reduce any entitlement to any days at sea in a future management period if they discover that the vessels referred to above had, or ought to have had no entitlement to any of the days transferred in accordance with this request.

    Names of all part-owners[20] Signatures Date
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  

    Please submit by no later than the end of the management period to which this transfer request relates, to:

    Paul Donnelly, DARD, Fisheries, Annex 5, Castle Grounds, Stormont Estate, Belfast, BT4 3PW, or

    Fax to 028 9052 2394



    SCHEDULE 2
    Article 8(2)


    LIST OF PORTS (AND WHERE APPLICABLE LOCATIONS WITHIN THE PORT) IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AT WHICH MORE THAN 2 TONNES OF COD MUST BE LANDED


    Port Location within port (where applicable)
    ENGLAND AND WALES
    North Shields     
    Hartlepool Fish quay in Victoria Dock
    Whitby Fish quay
    Scarborough West Pier
    Humberside (Hull and Grimsby) Hull - North side of Albert Dock & William Wright Dock

    Grimsby - Fish Dock, Market Quay

    Lowestoft Waveney Dock
    Ramsgate Harbour
    Shoreham Within the confines of the harbour
    Plymouth Sutton Harbour, New Fish Market
    Brixham     
    Newlyn     
    Padstow     
    Milford Haven     
    Holyhead Fish Dock
    Whitehaven North Harbour on the Old North Wall Quay next to the Ice Plant and on the North Wall Quay next to the Fish Handling Facility building
    Fleetwood Wyre Fish Dock
    SCOTLAND
    Eyemouth     
    Pittenweem     
    Aberdeen Palmerston Quay & Commercial Quay
    Peterhead Peterhead Harbour excluding Peterhead Bay Harbour
    Fraserburgh     
    Buckie     
    Lerwick All piers, quays and docks within harbour limits excluding those in Dales Voe
    Scalloway     
    Kirkwall     
    Scrabster     
    Kinlochbervie All quays lying to the North of the ice factory quay
    Lochinver     
    Ullapool     
    Stornoway     
    Portree     
    Mallaig     
    Oban     
    Campbeltown     
    Troon     
    NORTHERN IRELAND
    Ardglass     
    Portavogie     
    Kilkeel     
    Bangor  



    EXPLANATORY NOTE

    (This note is not part of the Order.)


    This Order provides for the enforcement in Northern Ireland of the provisions of Annex XVII ("the Annex") to Council Regulation 2341/2002 (O.J. No. L356, 31.12.2002, p. 12) fixing for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks the fishing opportunities in Community waters for 2003.

    The Order contains provisions relating to the calculation of the number of days on which a vessel may be absent from port for the purposes of the Annex (Article 3(2)-(8)) and the transfer of days from one period to another (Article 5) and from one vessel to another (Article 6 and Schedule 1).

    The Order creates offences in respect of breaches, by a person in charge of a relevant British fishing boat (as defined in the Order), of the provisions of paragraphs 6(a) (absence from port in excess of number of permitted days), 7 (use of single type of gear), 8 (use of gear in different areas) and 9 (use of gears in given periods) of the Annex (Article 3(1)), as qualified by a defence for unwitting recipients of excess days (Article 3(9)). An offence is not committed where a boat would not have exceeded its permitted days under the Annex if the management periods were one month, rather than two months in length (Article 4).

    The Order also creates offences in respect of breaches of other provisions of the Annex (Articles 8, 9 and 10) relating to landing cod without advance notice (paragraph 13) or at an unauthorised location (paragraph 14), mixing of cod and other species on board (paragraph 17) or transportation of cod on land without an accompanying landing declaration (paragraph 20). It also imposes additional requirements relating to logbooks (Article 11). Failure to comply with those requirements is an offence, as is the making of a false statement by any person in a notification under Article 6(2) (Article 6(6)). The application of the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) 2000 (S.I. 2000/51) is extended in pursuance of paragraph 12 of the Annex (Article 7).

    The Order provides that a person guilty of an offence under it other than an offence under Article 18(1) is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £50,000 and on conviction on indictment to a fine. Further fines up to and including the value of any fish caught in committing the offence are permitted and the court may also order the seizure of fish caught or equipment used in, or in activities leading to, the commission of the offence (Article 12).

    The Order also provides for the recovery of fines imposed, or treated as imposed, by a magistrates' court in Northern Ireland (Article 13).

    For the purposes of enforcing provisions of the Annex the Order confers on British sea-fishery officers the powers to enter premises, to go on board fishing boats, to stop and search vehicles transporting fish, to examine fish, to require the production of documents, to search for and seize documents, to take a boat to the nearest convenient port and to seize fish and fishing gear (Articles 14, 15 and 16). Protection of such officers from liability is set out in Article 17, and impeding them is an offence under Article 18, with a fine of up to the statutory maximum on summary conviction and a fine on conviction on indictment. Articles 19 and 20 deal with corporate and equivalent offences and admissibility of documents in evidence.

    A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to the Annex and this Order has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from Defra, Fisheries Division I, 4th Floor, Nobel House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.


    Notes:

    [1] 1981 c. 29.back

    [2] See Sea Fisheries (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002 No. 790) Article 3(2) and Schedule 2back

    [3] Inserted by S.I. 1999/1820 Article 4 Sch 2 Part 1 para 68(5)(a); S.I. 1998/3178, Art. 3back

    [4] O.J. No. L356, 31.12.2002, p. 12back

    [5] 1995 c. 21back

    [6] O.J. No. L276, 10.10.1983, p. 1back

    [7] O.J. No. L268, 9.10.2001, p. 23back

    [8] O.J. No. L261, 20.10.1993, p. 1back

    [9] O.J. No. L358, 31.12.1998, p. 5back

    [10] 1998 c. 47back

    [11] O.J. No. L337, 30.12.99, p. 10back

    [12] O.J. No. L358, 31.12.02, p. 49back

    [13] 1967 c. 84. Section 4 was amended by section 3 of the Fishery Limits Act 1976 (c. 86), section 20 of the Fisheries Act 1981 (c. 29), section 1 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1992 (c. 60) and article 4 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Scotland Act 1998 (Consequential Modifications) (No. 2) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1820)back

    [14] S.I. 1993/3138; the relevant amending instrument is 1999/3206back

    [15] S.I. 2000/51back

    [16] S.I. 1981/1675 (N.I. 26)back

    [17] 1 If not registered under Part II of the Merchant Shipping Act, use actual name.back

    [18] 2 Applicable to fishing boats registered under Part II of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.back

    [19] 3 Applies only to gear as specified in paragraph 4(a) of Annex XVII to Council Regulation (EC) 2341/2002.back

    [20] 4 If there is only one owner, the owner should sign.back



    ISBN 0 33795033 4


      © Crown copyright 2003

    Prepared 27 March 2003


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