Fishery Limits Act 1964

1 British fishery limits

(1) For the purposes of the Sea Fisheries Acts the fishery limits of the British Islands shall be the seas surrounding the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man to a distance of twelve miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured and shall be divided into—

(a) the exclusive fishery limits, that is to say, the said fishery limits to a distance of six miles from those baselines; and

(b) the remainder, in this section referred to as " the outer belt".

(2) The following provisions shall have effect with respect to foreign fishing boats within the outer belt—

(a) if the boat is not registered in a country for the time being designated under this Act, section 7 of the Sea Fisheries Act 1883 shall apply as it applies with respect to the exclusive fishery limits ;

(b) if the boat is registered in a country for the time being so designated, the boat shall not fish or attempt to fish except in an area and for any description of sea fish so designated in relation to that country;

and any contravention of this subsection shall be treated as a contravention of the said section 7.

(3) For the purpose of giving effect to any Convention, agreement or arrangement providing for sea-fishing by foreign fishing boats the Ministers may by order designate any country outside the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, and the area in which and descriptions of sea fish for which fishing boats registered in that country may fish in the outer belt, and any such order shall be made by statutory instrument and may be varied or revoked by a subsequent order so made.

(4) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) of this section, the fishery limits of the British Islands shall not include any part of the sea which is beyond the median line between the coasts of England or the Channel Islands and France, that is to say a line every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the low water lines of those coasts or any other line agreed between the government of the United Kingdom and the government of France.

2 Temporary concessions

In relation to fishing boats registered in such of the countries designated by an order under section 1 of this Act as may be specified in that order for the purposes of this section, the said section 1 shall have effect—

(a) until the end of the year 1965; and

(b) so far as concerns any area where the base line of the territorial sea is a straight line other than a bay-closing line or is a straight line exceeding ten miles, until the end of the year 1966;

as if subsection (1) referred to three instead of six miles.

3 Interpretation, amendments, repeals and saving

(1) In this Act—

• " fishing boat " means a vessel of whatever size, and in whatever way propelled, which is for the time being employed in sea-fishing;

• " foreign fishing boat " means a fishing boat which is neither registered in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man nor exempted from registration by regulations under section 373 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894;

• " mile " means nautical mile ;

• " Sea Fisheries Acts " means any enactments for the time being in force relating to sea-fishing, including any enactment relating to fishing for shellfish, salmon or migratory trout and any such enactment passed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland; and

• " the Ministers" means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretaries of State concerned with sea-fishing in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

(2) So much of the definition of " sea-fishing" in the Sea Fisheries Act 1883 as excludes fishing for salmon shall cease to have effect.

(3) The enactments mentioned in Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect subject to the amendments specified in that Schedule, being amendments consequential on the extension of the fishery limits of the British Islands.

(4) The enactments mentioned in Schedule 2 to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

(5) Nothing in section 7 of the Sea Fisheries Act 1883 or section 1(2) of this Act shall prohibit or restrict fishing by French fishing boats in any area with respect to which special provision for fishing by such boats is made by any agreement or arrangement between the government of the United Kingdom and the government of France.

4 Provisions as to Northern Ireland

(1) This Act extends to Northern Ireland.

(2) References in the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to the portion of Ireland within the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Northern Ireland shall be construed as including, in relation to any matter concerning or connected with fishing, so much of the fishery limits of the British Islands as is adjacent to Northern Ireland but is not nearer to any point on the coasts of Scotland than to any point on the coasts of Northern Ireland.

(3) For the purposes of section 6 of that Act (conflict of laws) so much of this Act as relates to matters with respect to which the Parliament of Northern Ireland has power to make laws shall be deemed to be contained in an Act passed before the day appointed for the purposes of that section.

5 Short title and commencement

(1) This Act may be cited as the Fishery Limits Act 1954.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Ministers may by order made by statutory instrument appoint.