Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967

4 Licensing of British fishing boats

(1) As from such day as may be appointed by an order made by the Ministers and subject to such exceptions as may be made by any such order, no British fishing boat registered in the United Kingdom shall be used by way of trade or business for fishing in any area specified in the order, and no fishing boat which is British-owned but not registered under the [1894 c. 60.] Merchant Shipping Act 1894 shall be used by way of trade or business for fishing for salmon or migratory trout in any area so specified, except under the authority of a licence granted by one of the Ministers and for the time being in force.

(2) An order made under this section in respect of fishing in any area may be made so as to apply to fishing in that area generally, or may be made subject to any one or more, or any combination, of the following limitations, that is to say, limitations whereby the order applies to fishing in that area—

(a) for fish of a description specified in the order and not for any other descriptions of fish, or for fish of any description except a description so specified;

(b) by a method specified in the order and not by any other method, or by any method except a method so specified ;

(c) during a season of the year specified in the order and not during any other season of the year, or at any season of the year except a season so specified;

(d) during a period specified in the order and at no other time.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, any licence granted under this section may authorise either fishing generally or fishing for, or except for, any description of fish specified in the licence, and may do so either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as appear to the Minister granting the licence expedient for the purpose of preventing overfishing.

(4) Where an order under this section is made subject to any such limitations as are mentioned in subsection (2) above, the licensing powers exercisable under this section in pursuance of that order shall be exercisable only within those limitations.

(5) The licensing powers conferred by this section may be so exercised as to limit the number of British fishing boats, or any class of such boats, engaged in fishing in any area or in fishing in any area for any description of fish to such extent as appears to the Ministers to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of preventing overfishing, but the Ministers shall exercise those powers in such a way as appears to them to be likely to cause the least possible hardship.

(6) An order under this section, made with the consent of the Treasury for the purposes of this subsection, may authorise any of the Ministers to make a charge, not exceeding such amount as may be specified in the order, for the granting of a licence under this section, and different amounts may be so specified in relation to different classes of licences.

(7) If subsection (1) above is contravened in the case of any fishing boat, the master, the owner and the charterer (if any) shall each be guilty of an offence under this section.

(8) Subject to subsection (9) below, an order appointing a day for the purposes of this section shall not be made in relation to any area unless the Ministers are satisfied that measures substantially equivalent to the provisions of this section are being taken by the governments of other countries interested in fishing in that area, and in exercising in relation to any area the powers conferred by this section the Ministers shall have regard to the extent to which fishing in that area is being restricted by those governments.

(9) Subsection (8) above shall not apply in relation to the imposition of any restriction—

(a) on fishing for salmon or migratory trout, whether within or outside the fishery limits of the British Islands, or

(b) on fishing for any other sea fish in any waters adjacent to Great Britain and within those limits.