UK Offence Report

The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Measures for the Recovery of the Stock of Cod) (Irish Sea) Order 2000

UK Statutory Instrument 2000 No. 435 — creates 2 criminal offences.

2offences created
0recorded in force
0revoked
Made
24 February 2000
In force from
25 February 2000
Extent
Not stated
Subject
Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheries
Made under
Fisheries Act 1981

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

The Order makes provision for the enforcement of restrictions concerning the conservation of fishery resources through measures for the recovery of the stock of cod in the Irish Sea (ICES Division VIIa) which are contained in Article 1, as read with Article 1.2 and 1.3, of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 304/2000 (OJ No. L35, 10.2.2000, p.10) (“the Commission Regulation”). Article 1 of the Commission Regulation prohibits, during the period 14th February 2000 to 30th April 2000, the use of specified types of nets and fishing gear within a specified geographical area of the Irish Sea. The Order also makes provision for the enforcement of a requirement in relation to the percentage composition of catches of target species taken by different ranges of mesh sizes which is contained in article 4(4)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No. 850/98, for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms, as read with article 2 of the Commission Regulation. Article 2 of the Commission Regulation disapplies transitional measures for 2000 laid down in footnote 6 of Annex I of Council Regulation 850/98, which might otherwise allow a high number of target species to be taken as by-catch in the Irish Sea. Article 3 of the Order creates offences in respect of breaches of Article 1 of the Commission Regulation or Article 4(4)(b) of Council Regulation 850/98. Penalties, which may include the forfeiture of fish, nets and other fishing gear, are specified for such offences (article 4). The Order confers powers of enforcement on British sea-fishery officers in relation to fishing boats and on land and in relation to the seizure of fish and fishing gear (articles 6, 7 and 8) as well as on other officers in relation to nets and fishing gear (article 9). Provision is made for the punishment of anyone found guilty of obstructing or assaulting an officer (article 11). Provision is also made for the prosecution of offenders in England and Northern Ireland and for proceedings by local fisheries committees (article 13). The statutory maximum penalty specified in the Order is currently £5,000. The Order provides powers for the recovery of fines imposed by a magistrates' court in England or Northern Ireland (article 5). Articles 10, 12 and 14 contain ancillary provisions. The Order does not form part of the law of Scotland. It does not apply in relation to fishing activities within the territorial sea of Wales. A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to the Commission Regulation has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from Fisheries III Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Room 421d, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.

Offences created by this instrument

What Parliament said about it

Hansard was searched for this instrument by name and returned nothing. That is the ordinary outcome: an instrument laid under the negative procedure is usually never debated, and becomes law without a word said about it in either House.

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

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