The Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order 2003

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order provides for the enforcement in England and Wales of the provisions of Annex XVII (“the Annex”) to Council Regulation 2341/2002 (OJ No. L356, 31.12.2002, p12) fixing for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks the fishing opportunities in Community waters for 2003.

The Order contains provisions relating to the calculation of the number of days on which a vessel may be absent from port for the purposes of the Annex (article 3(2)–(8)) and the transfer of days from one period to another (article 5) and from one vessel to another (article 6 and Schedule 1).

The Order creates offences in respect of breaches, by a person in charge of a relevant British fishing boat (as defined in the Order), of the provisions of paragraphs 6(a) (absence from port in excess of number of permitted days), 7 (use of single type of gear), 8 (use of gear in different areas) and 9 (use of gears in given periods) of the Annex (article 3(1)), as qualified by a defence for unwitting recipients of excess days (article 3(9)). An offence is not committed where a boat would not have exceeded its permitted days under the Annex if the management periods were one month, rather than two months in length (article 4).

The Order also creates offences in respect of breaches of other provisions of the Annex (articles 8, 9 and 10) relating to landing cod without advance notice (paragraph 13) or at an unauthorised location (paragraph 14), mixing of cod and other species on board (paragraph 17) or transportation of cod on land without an accompanying landing declaration (paragraph 20). It also imposes additional requirements relating to logbooks (article 11). Failure to comply with those requirements is an offence, as is the making of a false statement by any person in a notification under article 6(2) (article 6(6)). The application of the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) 2000 (S.I. 2000/51) is extended in pursuance of paragraph 12 of the Annex (article 7).

The Order provides that a person guilty of an offence under it other than an offence under article 18(1) is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £50,000 and on conviction on indictment to a fine. Further fines up to and including the value of any fish caught in committing the offence are permitted and the court may also order the seizure of fish caught or equipment used in, or in activities leading to, the commission of the offence (article 12).

The Order also provides for the recovery of fines imposed, or treated as imposed, by a magistrates' court in England or Wales (article 13).

For the purposes of enforcing provisions of the Annex the Order confers on British sea-fishery officers the powers to enter premises, to go on board fishing boats, to stop and search vehicles transporting fish, to examine fish, to require the production of documents, to search for and seize documents, to take a boat to the nearest convenient port and to seize fish and fishing gear (articles 14, 15 and 16). Protection of such officers from liability is set out in article 17, and impeding them is an offence under article 18, with a fine of up to the statutory maximum on summary conviction and a fine on conviction on indictment. Articles 19 and 20 deal with corporate and equivalent offences and admissibility of documents in evidence.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to the Annex and this Order has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from Defra, Fisheries Division I, 4th Floor, Nobel House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.