Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland
2014 No. 209
Sea Fisheries
The Sea Fishing (Licences and Notices) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014
Made
3rd July 2014
Coming into operation
8th August 2014
Citation, commencement and application
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Sea Fishing (Licences and Notices) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 and come into operation on 8th August 2014.
(2) They apply in relation to-
(a)a licence granted by the Department under section 4 (licensing of fishing boats) or section 4A (licensing of vessels receiving trans-shipped fish) of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967(3) in respect of a Northern Ireland fishing boat; and
(b)a variation, suspension or revocation of a licence by the Department under section 4(9) or section 4A(10) of that Act, whether or not the licence was granted before or after the coming into operation of these Regulations.
Interpretation
2.—(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(4) applies to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.
(2) In these Regulations—
“the Department” means the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;
“electronic communication” has the same meaning as in section 4(1) of the Electronic Communications Act (Northern Ireland) 2001(5);
“licence” (except in the term “sea fishing licence”) means a licence of a kind described in regulation 1(2)(a);
“newspaper” means a newspaper circulating within, or within any part of, the United Kingdom and includes a journal, magazine or other periodical publication;
“nominee” means either-
the individual resident in the United Kingdom, or
the body incorporated in a member State of the European Union and having a place of business in the United Kingdom,
appointed by the owner or charterer of a Northern Ireland fishing boat to receive, on the owner or charterer’s behalf, licences or notices or both;
“notice” means a notice of variation, suspension or revocation of a licence;
“Northern Ireland fishing boat” means a fishing vessel which is registered in the register maintained under section 8 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995(6) and whose entry in the register specifies a port in Northern Ireland as the port to which the vessel is to be treated as belonging; and
“sea fishing licence” means a licence granted by the Department under section 4 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 in respect of a Northern Ireland fishing boat.
Manner in which a licence is granted and a variation, suspension or revocation is effected
3.—(1) A licence is to be granted by the Department to the owner or charterer of a Northern Ireland fishing boat by delivering it to the owner or charterer of the boat named in the licence or (as the case may be) to their nominee in accordance with paragraph (2), and the person to whom the licence is delivered is in that paragraph referred to as the “recipient”.
(2) A licence must be delivered by-
(a)personally delivering it to the recipient;
(b)sending it by post to the recipient at the recipient’s address or place of business;
(c)leaving it at the recipient’s address or place of business, or in the hands of a person there who is apparently over the age of 16; or
(d)subject to paragraph (7), transmitting it to the recipient by means of an electronic communication to an address which the recipient has specified for the purposes of sub-paragraph (b) of that paragraph.
(3) A variation, suspension or revocation of a licence by the Department is to be effected by communicating written notice of it to the owner or charterer of the Northern Ireland fishing boat named in the licence or (as the case may be) to their nominee in accordance with paragraph (4), and the person to whom the notice is communicated is in that paragraph referred to as the “recipient”.
(4) A notice must be communicated to the recipient by-
(a)a method specified in paragraph (2);
(b)publishing the notice on a website (7), the address of which is indicated on the licence to which the notice relates; or
(c)where the notice is a general notice, publishing it in a newspaper.
(5) A general notice must specify -
(a)that it applies to all sea fishing licences; or
(b)the class of sea fishing licence to which it applies by reference to species, area, method or licence type, or any combination of those matters.
(6) A notice other than a general notice must specify the licence to which it relates by reference to the name, port letters and number of the fishing boat in respect of which the licence was granted.
(7) A licence may be delivered and a notice may be communicated by means of an electronic communication as described in paragraph (2)(d) only if the following conditions are satisfied-
(a)the use of an electronic communication results in the information contained in the licence or notice being available to the person in all material respects as it would appear in a licence or notice in printed form; and
(b)the person has specified an address for the purpose of receiving such communication.
(8) In this regulation a “general notice” means a notice which relates to –
(a)all sea fishing licences; or
(b)all sea fishing licences authorising fishing-
(i)for one of more specified descriptions of sea fish,
(ii)in one or more specified areas,
(iii)by a specified method or methods,
(iv)by licence type; or
(v)by reference to a combination of two or more of the matters referred to in heads (i) to (iv).
(9) Section 24(1) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 (service of documents) has effect in relation to the delivery of a licence or the communication of a notice by post with the omission of the word “registering”.
Time when licences and notices are treated as delivered or communicated
4.—(1) A licence delivered or a notice communicated by personally delivering it is to be treated as delivered or communicated immediately it is so delivered.
(2) Subject to paragraph (7), a licence delivered or a notice communicated by post is to be treated as delivered or communicated 48 hours after the end of the day on which it was posted.
(3) A licence delivered or a notice communicated by leaving it at the address or place of business of an owner, charterer or their nominee, or in the hands of a person there who is apparently over the age of 16, is to be treated as delivered or communicated 24 hours after the time at which it was left.
(4) A licence delivered or a notice communicated by transmission by means of an electronic communication as described in regulation 3(2)(d) is to be treated as delivered or communicated 24 hours after the time it was transmitted.
(5) A notice communicated by publication on a website is to be treated as communicated immediately it is published.
(6) A notice communicated by publication in a newspaper is to be treated as communicated at the end of the day on which it is published.
(7) Where -
(a)a licence is delivered or a notice is communicated by post; and
(b)in accordance with paragraph (2), the day on which the licence or notice is to be treated as delivered or communicated is –
(i)a Sunday; or
(ii)a public holiday,
the licence or notice is to be treated as delivered or communicated at the end of the next day following which is not a public holiday.
Time when licences, variations, suspensions or revocations have effect
5. Subject to regulation 6-
(a)a licence delivered in accordance with regulation 3(2) has effect at the time it is treated as delivered in accordance with regulation 4;
(b)a variation, suspension or revocation of a licence communicated by notice in accordance with regulation 3(4)(a) has effect 24 hours after the time the notice is treated as communicated in accordance with regulation 4;
(c)a variation, suspension or revocation of a licence communicated by notice in accordance with regulation 3(4)(b) has effect 24 hours after the time the notice is treated as communicated in accordance with regulation 4(5); and
(d)a variation, suspension or revocation of a sea fishing licence communicated by notice in accordance with regulation 3(4)(c) has effect 48 hours after the time the notice is treated as communicated in accordance with regulation 4(6).
Special provisions for the time when certain licences, variations, suspensions or revocations have effect
6.—(1) A licence delivered or a variation, suspension or revocation communicated by more than one of the methods specified in regulation 3 has effect at the earliest of the times corresponding to each such method specified in regulation 5.
(2) A licence, variation, suspension or revocation which states a time of having effect that is later than that at which it is to be treated as having effect in accordance with regulation 5 has effect at the time stated on it.
Revocation
7. The Sea Fishing (Licences and Notices) Regulations 1994(8) are revoked.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on 3rd July 2014
John Speers
A senior officer of the
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations make provision as to the manner in which licences under sections 4 and 4A of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 (c.84) are to be granted by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in respect of Northern Ireland fishing boats, and variations, suspensions and revocations of such licences are to be effected. They also make provision as to the time when a licence and a variation, suspension or revocation of a licence is to take effect.
These Regulations revoke and replace the Sea Fishing (Licences and Notices) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/2813).
A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to these Regulations has been prepared and placed in the library of the Assembly, and on the Departmental website.
1967 c.84. Section 4B was inserted by section 4 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1992 (c.60) and, in relation to regulations made under it by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, was modified by article 3(1) of, and paragraph 4(4) of Schedule 1 to, the Sea Fisheries (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/790).
The function of “the Ministers” under section 4B of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 in relation to licences granted under section 4 or 4A of that Act by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development was transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development under article 3(1) of, and paragraph 3(1)(g) of Schedule 1 to, the Sea Fisheries (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/790).
Section 4 was substituted by the Fishery Limits Act 1976 (c.86), section 3, and amended by the Fisheries Act 1981 (c.29) (“the 1981 Act”), section 20, the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1992 (c.60) (“the 1992 Act”), section 1, S.I. 1999/1820, art. 4, Sch.2 Pt. I paragraph 43(2)(b) and (5)(a), and the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (c.23) (“the 2009 Act”), section 4(6). Section 4A was inserted by the 1981 Act, section 21, and amended by the 1992 Act, section 3, S.I. 1999/1820, art.4 Sch.2 Pt.I paragraph 43(2)(b), and the 2009 Act, section 6(9).
2001 c.9(N.I.); that definition was amended by the Communications Act 2003 (c.21), section 406(1) and paragraph 170 of Schedule 17.
As of the date of making of these Regulations, the address of the website for the purposes of regulation 3(4)(b) is http://www.dardni.gov.uk/vessel-licence-variations.htm. Any alteration to that address will be notified to the licence holder or any nominee, as the case may be.