The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Quota and Third Country Fishing Measures) (Wales) Order 2000
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It should be noted that the right to reproduce the text of Statutory Instruments does not extend to the Royal Badge of Wales and the Queen's Printer imprints. The text of this Internet version of the Statutory Instrument has been prepared to reflect the text as it was Made. The authoritative version is the Queen's Printer copy published by The Stationery Office Limited as the The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Quota and Third Country Fishing Measures) (Wales) Order 2000, ISBN 0 11 090057 X, £3.50 sterling. For details of how to obtain an official copy see How to obtain The Stationery Office Limited titles. SEA FISHERIES, WALES The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Quota and Third Country Fishing Measures) (Wales) Order 2000
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 30(2) of the Fisheries Act 1981[1], which are now vested in it, the National Assembly for Wales[2] hereby makes the following Order: Title, commencement and application
(2) This Order applies to Wales and the territorial sea adjacent to Wales. Interpretation
(1) In this Order -
(b) any provision in an order extending to any other part of the
United Kingdom made for the purposes of implementing a specified Community
provision, being a provision in respect of which, by virtue of section
30(2A) of the Fisheries Act 1981[13], proceedings
may be commenced in any place in the United Kingdom;
(b) any reference to a logbook, declaration or document includes,
in addition to a logbook, declaration or document in writing -
(ii) any photograph; (iii) any disk, tape, sound track or other device in which sounds or other data are recorded so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom; (iv) any film (including microfilm), negative, tape, disk or other device in which one or more visual images are recorded so as to be capable (as aforesaid) of being reproduced therefrom; and (v) any data, howsoever reproduced, communicated via a satellite-based
vessel monitoring system established under Article 3.1 of Council Regulation
2847/93.
(4) For the purpose of the prohibition contained
in paragraph 2 of Annex IV to the Council Regulation:
(b) in making such a decision, a British sea-fishery officer shall have regard to the overall size and characteristics of a catch; (c) a British sea-fishery officer may only make such a decision following an application by the master of a fishing boat to a British sea-fishery officer at that harbour before the landing of a catch; and (d) a British sea-fishery officer shall notify the master of a fishing
boat of any such decision.
3. - (1) Where there is, in respect of any fishing boat within the territorial sea adjacent to Wales a contravention of, or failure to comply with, any specified Community provision in column 1 of Schedule 1 to this Order, the master, the owner and the charterer (if any) shall each be guilty of an offence. (2) Where there is, in respect of any fishing boat within the territorial sea adjacent to Wales, being a fishing boat to which any specified Community provision in column 1 of Schedule 2 to this Order applies, a contravention of, or failure to comply with, any such specified Community provision, the master, the owner and the charterer (if any) shall each be guilty of an offence. Penalties
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.
5. - (1) Where a fine is imposed by a magistrates' court in Wales on a master, owner, charterer (if any), or any other person who is convicted by the court of a relevant offence or an offence under article 10, the court may for the purposes of recovering the fine -
(b) order such boat and its gear and catch to be detained for a period
not exceeding three months from the date of the conviction or until the
fine is paid or the amount of the fine is levied in pursuance of any such
warrant, whichever occurs first.
(3) Where in relation to a fine in respect of a relevant offence a transfer of fine order under section 90 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, Article 95 of the Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981[16] or section 222 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995[17] specifies a petty sessions area in Wales this article shall apply as if the fine were imposed by a court within that petty sessions area. Powers of British sea-fishery officers in relation to fishing boats
(2) For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of article 3(2) of this Order, or any equivalent provision in an order extending to any other part of the United Kingdom made for the purposes of implementing a specified Community provision, a British sea-fishery officer may exercise the powers conferred by paragraphs (3) to (5) of this article in relation to any fishing boat within the territorial sea adjacent to Wales, being a fishing boat to which a specified Community provision applies. (3) The officer may go on board the boat, with or without persons assigned to assist in his or her 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. (4) The officer may require the attendance of
the master and other persons on board the boat and may make any examination
and inquiry which appears to the officer to be necessary for the purposes
mentioned in paragraph (1) or (2) of this article and, in particular
-
(b) may require any person on board the boat to produce any document relating to the boat, to any fishing operations or other operations ancillary thereto or to the persons on board which is in that person's custody or possession; (c) for the purpose of ascertaining whether a relevant offence has been committed, may search the boat for any such document and may require any person on board the boat to do anything which appears to to the officer to be necessary for facilitating the search including rendering all documents on the boat's computer systems into a visible and legible form; (d) inspect and take copies of any such document produced or found on board and where any such document is kept by means of a computer, require it to be produced in a form in which it may be taken away; and (e) where the boat is one in relation to which the officer has reason
to suspect that a relevant offence has been committed, may seize and detain
any such document produced to the officer or found on board for the purpose
of enabling the document to be used as evidence in proceedings for the
offence;
(5) Where it appears to a British sea-fishery
officer that a relevant offence has at any time been committed, the officer
may -
(b) detain or require the master to detain the boat in port;
Powers of British sea-fishery officers on land
(b) take with him or her such other persons as appear to the officer to be necessary and any equipment or materials; (c) examine any fish on the premises and require persons on the premises to do anything which appears to the officer to be necessary for facilitating the examination; (d) carry out at such premises such other inspections or tests as may reasonably be necessary; (e) require any person not to remove or cause to be removed any fish from such premises for such a period as may be reasonably necessary for the purposes of establishing whether a relevant offence has at any time been committed; (f) require any person on the premises to produce any documents which are in his or her custody or possession relating to the catching, landing, transportation, trans-shipment, sale or disposal of any sea fish; (g) for the purpose of ascertaining whether any person on the premises has committed a relevant offence, search the premises for any such document and may require any person on the premises to do anything which appears to the officer to be necessary for facilitating the search including rendering all documents on computer systems into a visible and legible form; (h) inspect and take copies of any such document produced to him or her or found on the premises and, where any such document is kept by means of a computer, require it to be produced in a form in which it may be taken away; and (i) if the officer has reason to suspect that a relevant offence
has been committed, seize and detain any such document produced to him
or her or found on the premises for the purpose of enabling the document
to be used as evidence in proceedings for the offence.
(3) If in Wales a justice of the peace on sworn
information in writing is satisfied -
(b) either -
(ii) that an application for admission or the giving of such notice
would defeat the object of the entry, or that the premises are unoccupied,
or that the occupier is temporarily absent and it might defeat the object
of the entry to await the occupier's return,
8. In Wales, and in the territorial sea adjacent to Wales, any British sea fishery officer, may, in relation to any fishing boat, seize -
(b) any net or other fishing gear which he or she has reasonable
grounds to suspect has been used in the course of the commission of a relevant
offence.
9. An officer or a person assisting an officer by virtue of article 6(3) or 7(1)(b) 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 or her by article 6, 7 or 8 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
(b) without reasonable excuse prevents, or attempts to prevent, any other person from complying with any such requirement; or (c) assaults an officer who is exercising any of the powers conferred
on British sea-fishery officers by article 6, 7 or 8 of this Order or intentionally
obstructs any such officer in the exercise of any of those powers,
(ii) on conviction on indictment to a fine.
11. - (1) Where any offence under article 3(1) of this Order 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, that person, 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) of this Order 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, that person, 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) of this Order 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, that person, 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
(b) declaration submitted under Article 8.1, 12 or 17.2 of Council Regulation 2847/93; (c) document drawn up under Article 9 or 13 of Council Regulation 2847 /93; (d) effort report completed under Article 19b or 19c of Council Regulation 2847/93; and (e) document containing required information received by a fisheries
monitoring centre established under Article 3.7 of Council Regulation 2847/93,
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) of this
article, "required information" shall mean data relating to -
(b) the most recent geographical position of the fishing boat expressed in degrees and minutes of longitude and latitude; and (c) the date and time of the fixing of that position, as communicated
via a satellite-based vessel monitoring system established under Article
3.1 of Council Regulation 2847/93.
Revocation
Signed on behalf of the National Assembly for Wales under section
66(1) of the Government of Wales Act 1998.
D. Elis Thomas
10th April 2000
SCHEDULE 1 SPECIFIED COMMUNITY PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO COMMUNITY VESSELS AND MAXIMUM FINES ON SUMMARY CONVICTION
SCHEDULE 2 SPECIFIED COMMUNITY PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO COMMUNITY VESSELS AND MAXIMUM FINES ON SUMMARY CONVICTION
(This note does not form part of the Order)
This Order makes provision for the enforcement within Wales and the territorial sea adjacent to Wales of certain enforceable Community restrictions and other obligations relating to sea fishing by both Community and third country vessels set out in Council Regulation (EC) No. 2742/1999 (OJ No. L341, 31.12.99, p.1) ("the Council Regulation"). The Council Regulation fixes total allowable catches and Member States' quotas for 2000 and lays down certain conditions under which they may be fished. It also authorises fishing by vessels of Norway and the Faroe Islands for specified descriptions of fish in certain specified areas within Member States' fishery limits in 2000 and imposes requirements concerning fishing quotas and authorised zones, methods of fishing, the holding of licences and observance of licence conditions, the keeping of log books, the making of reports and similar matters. Article 3 of the Order creates offences in respect of breaches of the provisions of the Council Regulation referred to in column 1 (and briefly described in column 2) of Schedules 1 (for Community vessels) and 2 (for third country vessels) to the Order. Penalties are specified for such offences (article 4). The statutory maximum penalty specified in the Schedules is currently £5,000. Provision is made for the recovery of fines (article 5). The Order confers powers of enforcement on British sea-fishery officers in relation to certain fishing boats within the territorial sea adjacent to Wales and on land in Wales in relation to the seizure of fish and fishing gear (articles 6, 7 and 8). Provision is made for the punishment of anyone found guilty of assaulting or obstructing an officer (article 10). The Order revokes the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Quota Measures) Order 1999 (S.I.1999/424) and the Third Country Fishing (Enforcement) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/425) insofar as they apply to Wales.
Notes: [1] 1981 c.29; see section 30(3) for the definitions of "enforceable Community restriction" ("cyfyngiad Cymunedol gorfodadwy"), "enforceable Community obligation" ("rhwymedigaeth Gymunedol orfodadwy") and "the Ministers", ("y Gweinidogion") as modified by Schedule 2, paragraph 68(5) of the Scotland Act 1998 (Consequential Modifications)(No.2)Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1820). Article 3(1) and Schedule 1 of the Scotland Act 1998 (Concurrent Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1592) provide for the functions exercisable under section 30(2) of the 1981 Act to be exercised by the Ministers, concurrently with Scottish Ministers, in relation to: relevant British fishing boats within the Scottish zone; and Scottish fishing boats within British fishery limits but outside the Scottish zone (for "the Scottish zone" see section 126 of the Scotland Act 1998 (c.46) and the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1126)).back [2] By virtue of the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/672), the functions of the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, and the Secretaries of State respectively concerned with sea fishing in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland under section 30(2) of the Fisheries Act 1981 (c.29) were, so far as they were exercisable in relation to Wales, transferred to the National Assembly for Wales.back [3] OJ No. L341, 31.12.99, p.1.back [4] OJ No. L261, 20.10.93.back [5] OJ No. L301, 14.12.95, p.1.back [6] OJ No. L301, 14.12.95, p.35.back [7] OJ No. L338, 28.12.96, p.12.back [8] OJ No. L102, 19.4.97, p.1.back [9] OJ No. L304, 7.11.97, p.1.back [10] OJ No. L356, 31.12.97, p.14.back [11] OJ No. L358, 31.12.98, p.5back [12] 1995, c.21.back [13] Inserted by the Scotland Act 1998 (Consequential Modifications) (No.2) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1820.back [14] S.I. 1999/672.back [15] 1980, c.43.back [16] S.I. 1981/1675 (N.I. 26).back [17] 1995, c.46.back [18] S.I. 1999/ 424.back [19] S.I. 1999/ 425.back [20] That is, any harbour other than a harbour to which article 2(4)
refers.back
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