The Tope (Prohibition of Fishing) (Wales) Order 2008

Powers of British sea-fishery officers

6.—(1) For the purposes of enforcing this Order, an officer may exercise the following powers.

(2) An officer may go on board a fishing boat, with or without persons assigned to assist in the exercise of the officer’s duties, and for that purpose may require the boat to stop and do anything else which will facilitate the boarding of the boat.

(3) An officer may require the attendance of the master and other persons on board the boat and may make any examination or inquiry appearing to the officer to be necessary for the purpose of enforcing this Order and, in particular—

(a) may examine any fish on the boat and the equipment of the boat, including the fishing gear, and require persons on board the boat to do anything appearing to the officer to be necessary for facilitating the examination;

(b) may require any person on board the boat to produce any document relating to the boat, to its fishing operations or other operations ancillary thereto or to the persons on board, which is in that person’s custody or possession and may take copies of any such document;

(c) for the purpose of ascertaining whether the master, owner or charterer of the boat has committed an offence under section 5 or 6 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 as read with this Order, may search the boat for any such document and may require any person on board the boat to do anything appearing to the officer to be necessary for facilitating the search; and

(d) where the boat is one in relation to which the officer has reason to suspect that such an offence has been committed, may subject to paragraph (4) seize and detain any such document produced to the officer or found on board for the purpose of enabling the document to be used as evidence in proceedings for the offence.

(4) Nothing in paragraph (3)(d) enables the officer to seize and detain any document required by law to be carried on board the boat except while the boat is detained in a port.

(5) Where it appears to an officer that a contravention of any provision of this Order has at any time taken place, the officer may—

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

(b) detain, or require the master to detain, the boat in the port.

(6) An officer who detains or requires the detention of a boat must serve on the master a notice in writing stating that the boat will be or is required to be detained until the notice is withdrawn by the service on the master of a further notice in writing signed by an officer.

(7) In this article, “officer” means a British sea-fishery officer.