The Sea Fishing (Northern Hake Stock) (Wales) Order 2006

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order provides for the administration and enforcement in Wales of the monitoring, inspection and surveillance provisions of Council Regulation (EC) 811/2004 (OJ No L150 30.4.2004, p.1).

The Order contains provisions relating to recording and accounting time spent at sea (article 3), provisions for the notification of entry into port of fishing boats and the landing of northern hake at designated ports (articles 4 and 5), a margin of tolerance relating to the recording of catches of fish in logbooks (article 6), a provision relating to the mixing of species within containers on board fishing vessels (article 7) and procedures for transporting northern hake (article 8).

The Order creates offences in respect of the contravention, by the person in charge of the fishing boat (or the individuals specifically referred to) of provisions of the Regulation. The offences relate to failing to record and account for time in a log book (article 3), failing to provide certain information and/or follow the directions of a British sea-fishery officer when landing at a designated port (article 4), the failure to land in a designated port where more than two tonnes of northern hake are to be landed (article 5), the failure to comply with the 8% tolerance for logbook records relating to catches of fish (article 6), and the mixing of species and transporting of northern hake (articles 7 and 8) in a manner inconsistent with the Regulation.

Articles 9-16 make provisions for enforcement. The Order provides that a person guilty of an offence other than an offence under article 15 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 an offence (article 9).

The Order also provides for the recovery of fines imposed, or treated as imposed, by a magistrates' court (article 10).

For the purposes of enforcing the above provisions, the Order confers on British sea-fishery officers the power 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 11-13). Protection of such officers from liability is set out in article 14, and obstructing them is an offence under article 15, with a fine of up to the statutory maximum on summary conviction and a fine on conviction on indictment. Articles 16 and 17 deal with corporate and equivalent offences and admissibility of documents in evidence.

A Regulatory Appraisal in relation to the Annexes and this Order has been prepared and placed in the library of the National Assembly for Wales. Copies can be obtained from Fisheries Branch, National Assembly for Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.