The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Measures for Spanish and Portuguese Vessels) Order 1986

Powers of British sea-fishery officers in relation to fishing boats

5.—(1) For the purpose of enforcing article 2(1) of this order, a British sea-fishery officer—

(a) may go on board any fishing boat which is within British fishery limits;

(b) may take with him, to assist him in performing his functions, any other person and any equipment or materials;

(c) may require any such boat to stop and do anything else to enable him to board it;

(d) may require the attendance of the master of the boat or any other person on board;

(e) may require any person on board to assist him in the performance of his functions; and

(f) may make any examination or inquiry which appears to him to be necessary and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, he may in particular—

(i) examine any fish on the boat and the equipment of the boat, including the fishing gear;

(ii) require the production of any document relating to the boat or to its fishing operations or other operations ancillary to its fishing operations;

(iii) search the boat for any such document; and

(iv) take copies of any such document.

(2) If a British sea-fishery officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence under article 2(1) of this order has been committed within British fishery limits in respect of a boat that he has power to go on board under paragraph (1)(a) of this article, the officer—

(a) may require the master to take, or may himself take, the boat and its crew to the port which appears to the officer to be the nearest convenient port; and

(b) may detain the boat in the port.

(3) If a British sea-fishery officer detains a boat, he shall serve on the master a notice stating that it is to be detained until the notice is withdrawn by the service on him of a further notice in writing signed by a British sea-fishery officer.