The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Annual Community and Third Country Fishing Measures) (England) Order 2006

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order makes provision for the enforcement of certain restrictions and obligations relating to sea fishing by Community vessels and third country vessels which are contained in Council Regulation (EC) No. 51/2006 (OJ No. L16, 20.1.2006, p.1) (“Council Regulation 51/2006”).

The Order revokes the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Quota and Third Country Fishing Measures) (England) Order 2004 (S.I. 2004/1237); see article 20.

Subject to certain conditions, Council Regulation 51/2006 fixes total allowable catches and the quotas of Member States for 2006. It also authorises for 2006 fishing by vessels of Norway and the Faroe Islands for specified descriptions of fish in specified areas within the fishery limits of Member States and imposes requirements concerning fishing quotas and authorised zones, methods of fishing, the weighing of fish, the holding of licences and observance of licence conditions, the keeping of log books, the making of reports and similar matters.

Article 2 of the Order contains provisions relating to the extent and application of the Order. Article 3 contains interpretation provisions and, in paragraph (5), lists the designated ports for the purposes of point 1.2.1 of Annex III to the Council Regulation 51/2006. Article 4 of the Order makes provision for the purposes of Article 9 of Council Regulation 51/2006 relating to the landing of unsorted catches.

Provision is made in article 5 for the approval of pelagic weighing systems by the Secretary of State and it is an offence to fail to comply with such an approval or to interfere with a pelagic weighing system which has been so approved.

Articles 6 and 7 make provision for the purposes of Annex III to Council Regulation 51/2006 relating to weighing herring, mackerel and horse mackerel and to illegal fishing in the north-east Atlantic. Article 8 makes it an offence to contravene a number of provisions of Council Regulation 51/2006 which are referred to in Schedules 1, 2 and 3 to the Order. Article 9 specifies the competent authorities for the purposes of Council Regulation 51/2006.

The penalties for offences under articles 4 to 8 of the Order are contained in article 10 and in the Schedules. Provisions for the recovery of fines are contained in article 11.

Articles 12 to 17 set out the powers of British sea-fishery officers and contain provisions concerned with related matters. Provisions relating to corporate offences and admissibility of evidence are contained in articles 18 and 19.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation of this Order has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Sea Fisheries Conservation Division, Area 6A, 3, Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HH.