Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967

Enforcement of orders, etc. U.K.

15 Powers of British sea-fishery officers for enforcement of Act. U.K.

(1) F1 . . . every British sea-fishery officer shall have the powers conferred by the following provisions of this section.

(2) Any such officer may seize—

[F2 (a) any fish in respect of which an offence has been or is being committed under section 1(3) of this Act;

(aa) any net or other fishing gear in respect of which a contravention of an order under section 3 of this Act has been or is being committed;

(b) any fish in respect of which an offence has been or is being committed under section 4(3), (6) or (9A) or 5(1) or (6) of this Act where the fish are on the fishing boat with or on which the offence has been or is being committed or are in the ownership or custody of, or under the control of, the owner, the master or the charterer (if any) of the fishing boat;]

[F3 (c) any net or other fishing gear used in contravention of a prohibition imposed by an order under the said section 4 or 5;]

(d) any fish landed in contravention of an order under section 6 of this Act, and any net or other fishing gear used in catching any fish so landed.

[F4 (2A) Any such officer may—

(a) enter at any reasonable time any premises (other than a dwelling-house) used for carrying on any business in connection with the operation of fishing boats or activities connected therewith or ancillary thereto or with the treatment, storage or sale of sea fish;

(b) require any person on the premises to produce any documents which are in his custody or possession relating to the catching, landing, trans-shipment, sale or disposal of any sea fish;

(c) take copies of any such document;

and, if he has reason to suspect that an offence under this Act has been committed, he may also—

(d) search the premises for any such document and require any person on the premises to do anything which appears to him to be necessary for facilitating the search;

(e) seize and detain any such document produced to him or found on the premises for the purpose of enabling the document to be used as evidence in proceedings for the offence.

(2B) Any such officer may—

(a) go on board any vessel into which sea fish are being trans-shipped or into which he has reason to believe that sea fish have been or are about to be trans-shipped;

(b) require any person on the vessel to produce any documents which are in his custody or possession relating to sea fish which have been or are to be trans-shipped into that vessel;

(c) for the purpose of ascertaining whether an offence has been committed under this Act search the vessel for any such document;

(d) take copies of any such document;

(e) inspect any sea fish on, and the equipment of, the vessel, and observe any trans-shipment of sea fish into, the vessel;

(f) require any person on the vessel to do anything which appears to the officer to be necessary for facilitating the exercise of his powers under paragraph (a), (c) or (e) above.

(2C) Any person who—

(a) without reasonable excuse fails to comply with any requirement imposed under subsection (2A) or (2B) above; or

(b) assaults an officer who is exercising any of the powers conferred on him by either of those subsections or wilfully obstructs an officer in the exercise of any of those powers,

shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5,000 or on conviction on indictment to a fine.]

[F5 (3) Any such officer may exercise in relation to any fishing boat in any waters adjacent to the United Kingdom and within [F6 British fishery limits] and in relation to any British fishing boat registered in the United Kingdom and any British owned fishing boat (not so registered) anywhere outside those limits, such of the powers of a British sea-fishery officer under section 8(2) to (4) of the M1 Sea Fisheries Act 1968 as may be conferred on him by order of the Ministers, being powers which the Ministers consider necessary for the enforcement of any of the provisions of sections 1 to 7 of this Act or any order made under any of those sections.

[F7 (3A) The powers which may be conferred on any such officer by an order under this section shall include power to—

(a) require any person on board the boat to produce—

(i) any automatic recording equipment or transmitting equipment used in accordance with a condition included in a licence by virtue of section 4(6) or 4A(6) of this Act, or

(ii) any record produced by means of such equipment, or partly by those and partly by other means;

(b) search the boat for any such equipment or record, and require any person on board the boat to do anything which appears to the officer to be necessary to facilitate the search;

(c) examine and take copies of any such record;

(d) seize and detain any such equipment or record for the purpose of enabling that equipment or record, or any record which may be produced by means of that equipment, to be used as evidence in proceedings for any offence.

(3B) An order under this section shall not permit anything which is required to be carried on board the boat by a condition included in a licence by virtue of section 4(6) or 4A(6) of this Act to be seized and detained except while the boat is detained in a port.]

(4) An order under this section may make different provision for different cases.

(5) Section 10 of the M2 Sea Fisheries Act 1968 shall apply in relation to the provisions of an order under this section and the powers thereby conferred as they apply in relation to section 8 of that Act and the powers thereby conferred; and, in relation to an offence under the said section 10 as it applies by virtue of this subsection, sections 12 to 14 of that Act shall apply accordingly.]

Subordinate Legislation Made

P1 S. 15: For exercises of this power before 01.02.1991 see Index to Government Orders.

P2 S. 15(3): s. 5(1) (with ss. 15(3) and 22(2)(a) ) power exercised by S.I. 1991/2767

P3 S. 15(3): ss. 5(1) and 15(3) (with ss. 20(1) and 22(2)(a)) power exercised by S.I. 1991/1163.

S. 15(3): ss. 3 and 15(3) (with s. 22(2)(a)) power exercised by S.I. 1991/1380.

S. 15(3): ss. 5(1) and 15(3)(with s. 22(2)(a)) power exercised by S.I. 1991/1473

P4 S. 15(3): s. 5(1) (with ss. 15(3) and 22(2)(a)) power exercised by S.I. 1991/2085

S. 15(3): s. 4 (with ss. 15(3), 20(1) and 22(2)(a)) power exercised by S.I. 1991/2196

P5 S. 15(3): s. 6(1) (with ss. 6(2) and (3), 15(3),20(1) and 22(2)(a)) power exercised by S.I. 1991/2565

P6 S. 15(3): s. 5(1) (with ss. 15(3) and 22(2)(a)) power exercised by S.I. 1991/2806

S. 15(3): s. 5(1) (with ss. 15(3) and 22(2)(a)) power exercised (17.12.1991) by S.I. 1991/2863

S. 15(3): s. 5(1) (with ss. 15(3) and 22(2)(a)) power exercised (17.12.1991) by S.I.1991/2849.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words repealed by Sea Fisheries Act 1968 (c. 77), Sch. 2 Pt. II

F2 S. 15(2) (a)(aa)(b) substituted for paras. (a) and (b) by virtue of Fishery Limits Act 1976 (c. 86), Sch. 2 para. 16(3) and Fisheries Act 1981 (c. 29, SIF 52:1), s. 25(1)

F3 S. 15(2)(c) substituted by virtue of Fishery Limits Act 1976 (c. 86), Sch. 2 para. 16(3)

F4 S. 15(2A)–(2C) inserted by Fisheries Act 1981 (c. 29, SIF 52:1), s. 25(2)

F5 S. 15(3)–(5) substituted for s. 15(3)–(7) by Sea Fisheries Act 1968 (c. 77), s. 22(5), Sch. 1 para. 38(3)

F6 Words substituted by Fishery Limits Act 1976 (c. 86), Sch. 2 para. 16(1)

F7 S. 15(3A)(3B) inserted (17.12.1992) by Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1992 (c. 60), s.6 (with s. 11(4)).

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 15(2) extended by Fisheries Act 1981 (c. 29, SIF 52:1), s. 30(1)(b)

Marginal Citations

M1 1968 c. 77.

M2 1968 c. 77.

16 Enforcement of orders under ss. 1 and 2. E+W+S

(1) With a view to enforcing any order under section 1 of this Act, and with a view to enforcing section 2 thereof, any of the following officers, that is to say—

(a) any officer authorised by the appropriate Minister,

[F8 (aa) any British sea-fishery officer]

(b) any police officer,

(c) any officer of a market authority, acting within the limits of any market which that authority has power to regulate,

(d) any fishery officer of a local fisheries committee acting within the district of the committee, and

(e) any officer authorised by the Fishmongers’ Company and acting within the City of London,

may, at all reasonable times, go on board any fishing boat or enter any premises used for carrying on any business in connection with the treatment, storage or sale of sea fish, may search for and examine any sea fish in any place, whether on board a fishing boat or elsewhere, and whether in a receptacle or not, and may seize any sea fish which have been landed, sold or exposed or offered for sale by any person in contravention of the said section 1, or which any person has in his possession in contravention of the said section 1 or 2, as the case may be.

[F9 (1A) Any person who assaults an officer who is exercising any of the powers conferred on him by subsection (1) above or wilfully obstructs an officer in the exercise of any of those powers shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or on conviction on indictment to a fine.]

(2) For the purposes of this section the district of a local fisheries committee shall be deemed to extend throughout the area of any council liable to pay, or contribute to the payment of, the expenses of the committee, except that the powers conferred by this section on the committee or any officer thereof shall not be exercisable in respect of any matter arising within the limits of any market under the control of the council of any county borough or [F10 district.]

[F11 (3) An officer shall not be liable in any civil or criminal proceedings for anything done in the purported exercise of the powers conferred on him by this section if the court is satisfied that the act was done in good faith and there were reasonable grounds for doing it.]

Textual Amendments

F8 S. 16(1)(aa) inserted by Fisheries Act 1981 (c. 29, SIF 52:1), s. 25(3)

F9 S. 16(1A) inserted by Fisheries Act 1981 (c. 29, SIF 52:1), s. 25(4)

F10 Words substituted by virtue of Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70), s. 179(3)

F11 S. 16(3) inserted by Fisheries Act 1981 (c. 29, SIF 52:1), s.25(5)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C2 S. 16(1A) amended (E.W.) (1.10.1992) by Criminal Justice Act 1991 (c. 53, SIF 39:1), s. 17(3), Sch. 4 Pt. III; S.I. 1992/333, art. 2(2), Sch.2.

17 Enforcement of orders under s. 3. E+W+S

With a view to enforcing any order made under section 3 of this Act, any fishery officer of a local fisheries committee may, within the district of the committee, go on board any British fishing boat registered in the United Kingdom and search for and examine all nets or other fishing gear carried in that boat, and may seize any net or other fishing gear in respect of which a contravention of an order under that section has been, or is being, committed.

18 Enforcement of orders in relation to salmon and migratory trout. E+W

(1) In so far as [F12 any order under section 4, 5 or 6 of this Act], imposes any prohibition or restriction on fishing for salmon or migratory trout within any waters which, [F13 are included in the area which by virtue of [F13 subsection (6) of section 2 of the Water Resources Act 1991]] is the area in relation to which the National Rivers Authority carries out functions relating to fisheries under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act M3 1975 or on landing salmon or migratory trout

[F14 (a) section 31(1)(d) of the M4 Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 (which confers power of seizure) shall apply as if the reference in it to that Act included a reference to this Act, and sections 36(1) and (2) of that Act, and paragraph 8 of Schedule 4 (all of which contain ancilliary provisions), shall be construed accordingly as including references to that Act as applied by this subsection;]

[F15 (b) the provisions of sections 169 and 172 of the Water Resources Act 1991 and, in relation to those sections, of Schedule 20 to that Act (which confer powers of entry) shall apply as if section 4 of this Act, and any order under section 5 or 6 of this Act, were an enactment to which the said sections 169 and 172 applied.]

(2) Where [F16 any order under the said section 4, 5 or 6] imposes any prohibition or restriction on fishing for salmon or migratory trout within any waters which form part of the district of a district board within the meaning of the M5 Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Protection) (Scotland) Act 1951, or on landing salmon or migratory trout at a place within such a district as aforesaid, any water bailiff, constable or any person appointed by the Secretary of State in pursuance of section 10(5) of the said Act of 1951 may exercise in relation to the contravention of the said section 4 or of any such order any of the powers conferred upon him in relation to a contravention of that Act by the following provisions thereof, that is to say—

(a) sections 11 and 12 (which confer powers of search and arrest); and

(b) sections 10(1)(d) and 20, so far as those provisions relate to the seizure of fish, instruments or articles liable to forfeiture or to the disposal of such fish,

and subsections (3) and (6) of the said section 10 (which contain provisions ancillary thereto) shall apply as if the Acts therein mentioned included a reference to this Act.

Extent Information

E1 This version of this section extends to England and Wales only; a separate version has been created for Scotland only

Textual Amendments

F12 Words substituted by Fishery Limits Act 1976 (c. 86), Sch. 2 para. 16(4)

F13 Words in s. 18(1) substituted (E.W.) (1.12.1991) by Water Consolidation (Consequential Provisions) Act 1991 (c. 60, SIF 130), ss. 2(1), 4(2), Sch. 1 para. 18(a)

F14 S. 18(1)(a) substituted by Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 (c. 51), s. 42(2)

F15 S. 18(1)(b) substituted (E.W.) (1.12.1991) by Water Consolidation (Consequential Provisions) Act 1991 (c. 60, SIF 130), ss. 2(1), 4(2), Sch. 1 para. 18(b)

F16 Words substituted by Fishery Limits Act 1976 (c. 86), Sch. 2 para. 16(5)

Marginal Citations

M3 1975 c.51(52:2).

M4 1975 c. 51.

M5 1951 c. 26.

18 Enforcement of orders in relation to salmon and migratory trout. S

(1) In so far as [F17 any order under section 4, 5 or 6 of this Act], imposes any prohibition or restriction on fishing for salmon or migratory trout within any waters which, for the purposes of the functions of a [F18 water authority] relating to fisheries, are included in the area of the [F18 water authority], or on landing salmon or migratory trout at a place within a [F18 water authority area]—

[F19 (a) section 31(1)(d) of the M6 Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 (which confers power of seizure) shall apply as if the reference in it to that Act included a reference to this Act, and sections 36(1) and (2) of that Act, and paragraph 8 of Schedule 4 (all of which contain ancilliary provisions), shall be construed accordingly as including references to that Act as applied by this subsection;]

(b) the provisions of subsections (1), (3) and (4) of section 111, and subsections (1) to (7) of section 112, of the M7 Water Resources Act 1963 (which confer powers for the enforcement of that Act) shall apply as if section 4 of this Act, and any order under section 5 or 6 thereof, were an enactment relating to the functions of the [F18 water authority].

(2) Where [F20 any order under the said section 4, 5 or 6] imposes any prohibition or restriction on fishing for salmon or migratory trout within any waters which form part of the district of a district board within the meaning of the M8 Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Protection) (Scotland) Act 1951, or on landing salmon or migratory trout at a place within such a district as aforesaid, any water bailiff, constable or any person appointed by the Secretary of State in pursuance of section 10(5) of the said Act of 1951 may exercise in relation to the contravention of the said section 4 or of any such order any of the powers conferred upon him in relation to a contravention of that Act by the following provisions thereof, that is to say—

(a) sections 11 and 12 (which confer powers of search and arrest); and

(b) sections 10(1)(d) and 20, so far as those provisions relate to the seizure of fish, instruments or articles liable to forfeiture or to the disposal of such fish,

and subsections (3) and (6) of the said section 10 (which contain provisions ancillary thereto) shall apply as if the Acts therein mentioned included a reference to this Act.

Extent Information

E2 This version of this provision extends to Scotland only; a separate version has been created for England and Wales only

Textual Amendments

F17 Words substituted by Fishery Limits Act 1976 (c. 86), Sch. 2 para. 16(4)

F18 Words substituted by virtue of Water Act 1973 (c. 37), s. 9(a)(b)

F19 S. 18(1)(a) substituted by Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 (c. 51), s. 42(2)

F20 Words substituted by Fishery Limits Act 1976 (c. 86), Sch. 2 para. 16(5)

Marginal Citations

M6 1975 c. 51.

M7 1963 c. 38.

M8 1951 c. 26.