Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967

[F1 4B Powers of sea-fishery officers on land to enforce regulated fishery E+W+S

(1) For the purpose of enforcing restrictions imposed by, or regulations made by, an order under section 1 conferring a right of regulating a fishery, a British sea-fishery officer may exercise the powers conferred by subsections (2) to (11) of this section in relation to—

(a) any premises (other than a dwelling-house) used for—

(i) carrying on any business in connection with the operation of fishing boats;

(ii) an activity connected with or ancillary to the operation of fishing boats; or

(iii) the treatment, storage or sale of shellfish;

(b) any vehicle which the officer has reasonable cause to believe is being used—

(i) to dredge, fish for or take shellfish; or

(ii) to transport shellfish.

(2) The officer may enter and inspect, at any reasonable time, the premises or vehicle (and, in the case of a vehicle, for that purpose require the vehicle to stop or require the operator to take the vehicle to a particular place).

(3) The officer may, in exercising the power conferred by subsection (2), take with the officer such other persons as appear to the officer to be necessary and any equipment or materials.

(4) The officer may examine any shellfish on the premises or vehicle and require persons on the premises or vehicle to do anything which appears to the officer to be necessary for facilitating the examination.

(5) The officer may on the premises or vehicle carry out such other inspections and tests as may reasonably be necessary.

(6) The officer may require any person not to remove or cause to be removed any shellfish from the premises or vehicle for such a period as may be reasonably necessary for the purposes of establishing whether an offence under section 3(3) has at any time been committed.

(7) The officer may require any person on the premises or vehicle to produce any relevant document in the person's custody or possession.

(8) The officer may, for the purpose of establishing whether an offence under section 3(3) has been committed, search the premises or vehicle for any relevant document, and may require any person on the premises or vehicle to do anything which appears to the officer to be necessary for facilitating the search.

(9) The officer may inspect and take copies of any relevant document produced or found on the premises or vehicle.

(10) The officer may require any person to render any relevant document on a computer system into a visible and legible form and to produce it in a form in which it may be taken away.

(11) If the officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence under section 3(3) has been committed, the officer may seize and detain any relevant document produced or found on the premises or vehicle, for the purpose of enabling the document to be used as evidence in proceedings for the offence.

(12) A sheriff may, if satisfied by evidence on oath as to the matters mentioned in subsection (13), grant a warrant authorising a British sea-fishery officer to enter premises (if necessary using reasonable force), accompanied by such persons as appear to the officer to be necessary.

(13) Those matters are—

(a) that there are reasonable grounds to believe that anything which a British sea-fishery officer has power under this section to examine or inspect is on the premises and that the examination or inspection is likely to disclose evidence of the commission of an offence under section 3(3); and

(b) that any of the following is the case—

(i) admission to the premises has been or is likely to be refused and that notice of intention to apply for a warrant under subsection (12) has been given to the occupier;

(ii) an application for admission, or the giving of such notice, would defeat the object of entry;

(iii) the premises are unoccupied or the occupier is temporarily absent and it might defeat the object of entry to await the return of the occupier.

(14) A warrant under subsection (12) is valid for the period of one month beginning with the date on which it is granted or for such shorter period as the sheriff may specify.

(15) In this section—

• “ premises ” includes land; and

• “ relevant document ” means a document relating to the catching, landing, transportation, transhipment, sale or disposal of shellfish. ]

Textual Amendments

F1 Ss. 4A-4D inserted (S.) (1.9.2006) by Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 (asp 10), ss. 98(1), 104(1); S.S.I. 2006/432, art. 2(f)