The Regulation of Scallop Fishing (Scotland) Order 2017

[F1 Restrictions on tow bars and number of scallop dredges S

4.— (1) Subject to paragraph (2), a fishing boat—

(a) must not deploy at any time in Scottish inshore waters or any other part of the territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Scotland—

(i) more than 8 scallop dredges from each of the port and starboard sides of the fishing boat;

(ii) more than 16 scallop dredges in total;

(iii) any tow bar with a total length exceeding 7.5 metres; or

(iv) more than 2 tow bars;

(b) must not deploy at any time in any other part of the Scottish zone—

(i) more than 14 scallop dredges from each of the port and starboard sides of the fishing boat; or

(ii) more than 28 scallop dredges in total; and

(c) when undertaking a single fishing trip for king scallops within the Scottish zone, in the course of which the fishing boat deploys scallop dredges in Scottish inshore waters or any other part of the territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Scotland and in any other part of the Scottish zone, must not deploy at any time—

(i) more than 8 scallop dredges from each of the port and starboard sides of the fishing boat;

(ii) more than 16 scallop dredges in total;

(iii) any tow bar with a total length exceeding 7.5 metres; or

(iv) more than 2 tow bars.

(2) A fishing boat is exempt from the restrictions in paragraph (1)(a) in so far as they apply to that part of the territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Scotland which is not within Scottish inshore waters, if and so long as the following conditions are complied with—

(a) the fishing boat has fished for king scallops at least once at any time during the reference period in any part of the territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Scotland other than in Scottish inshore waters and while so fishing at any time during the reference period the fishing boat deployed either 9 or 10 scallop dredges from each of the port and starboard sides of the fishing boat while a remote electronic monitoring system was installed on board; and

(b) while fishing for king scallops in any part of the territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Scotland other than in Scottish inshore waters, the fishing boat does not deploy at any time—

(i) more than 10 scallop dredges from each of the port and starboard sides of the fishing boat; or

(ii) more than 20 scallop dredges in total.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), “remote electronic monitoring system” means a remote electronic monitoring system which includes—

(a) a control box or storage box which is capable of housing and storing software and data—

(i) consisting of recorded images from digital cameras and recorded data from winch sensors and a global positioning system device;

(ii) which is capable of storing a minimum of 1000 hours of recorded data; and

(iii) which automatically over-writes the recorded data when the maximum data capacity is reached;

(b) a minimum of 2 digital cameras, each of which—

(i) produces images of at least 1080 pixels per frame;

(ii) is capable of visually recording fishing and related activities, including all movements related to the setting and hauling of fishing gear; and

(iii) has a minimum IP Rating of IP66;

(c) winch sensors which are—

(i) connected to the winches by which fishing gear can be deployed;

(ii) activated when the winches are operated; and

(iii) linked to the digital cameras in such a way that clear recorded images from the point at which the winches are operated can be readily retrieved;

(d) a global positioning system device which automatically stores in the control box or storage box, at intervals of a least once every 10 seconds, the following information—

(i) the fishing boat’s unique identifier;

(ii) the most recent geographical position of the fishing boat, using co-ordinates of latitude and longitude on the World Geodetic System 1984 Datum;

(iii) the date and time of the fixing of each geographical position of the fishing boat; and

(iv) the speed and course of the fishing boat at that time;

(e) a means of enabling the master to view the recorded data in real time on board the fishing boat on which the system is installed; and

(f) a means of allowing a British sea-fishery officer—

(i) from a position inside the wheelhouse of the fishing boat, to extract data held in the control box or storage box; and

(ii) to view recorded data on the system from a remote location.

(4) For the purposes of this article—

“IP Rating” means ingress protection rating as defined in international standard IEC 60529, setting out degrees of protection by enclosures against harmful ingress of water;

“the reference period” means the period beginning with 1 January 2018 and ending with 31 December 2020; and

“tow bar” means any device or appliance which is capable of being used for the purpose of fixing or attaching a scallop dredge to a fishing boat for the purpose of enabling such a dredge to be towed by the fishing boat and the length of a tow bar is to be measured in accordance with paragraph (5).

(5) For the purposes of this article, the length of a tow bar is measured by measuring the length of the bar, including those parts of the bar which extend over the wheels, skids or any other devices at each end of the bar which are designed to facilitate its movement.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Art. 4 substituted (17.6.2024) by The Sea Fisheries (Remote Electronic Monitoring and Regulation of Scallop Fishing) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 (S.S.I. 2024/165), regs. 1(2)(b), 23(2)