This Order makes provision for the enforcement of certain enforceable Community restrictions and other obligations relating to sea fishing by vessels of the Community or of third countries set out in Council Regulation (EC) No. 2287/2003 (O.J. No. L344, 31.12.2003, p. 1) (“the Council Regulation”). The Council Regulation fixes total allowable catches and Member States' quotas for 2004 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 2004 and imposes requirements concerning fishing quotas and authorised zones, methods of fishing, the holding of licences and observance of licence conditions, the keeping of logbooks, the making of reports and weighing obligations of buyers and holders of fish.

Article 4 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 and 2 to the Order, in the case of Community vessels, and Schedules 2 and 3, in the case of buyers and holders of fish and of third country vessels. Penalties are specified for such offences (Article 5). The statutory maximum penalty specified in the Schedules is currently £50,000. Provision is made for the recovery of fines (Article 6).

The Order confers powers of enforcement on British sea-fishery officers in relation to certain fishing boats, as well as on land in Northern Ireland, and in relation to the seizure of fish and fishing gear (Articles 7, 8, 9 and 10). Provision is made for the punishment of anyone found guilty of assaulting or obstructing an officer (Article 11).

The Order revokes the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Quota and Third Country Fishing Measures) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/272) insofar as it relates to Northern Ireland.