Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967

Enforcement of orders, etc.

15 Powers of British sea-fishery officers for enforcement of Act

(1) Subject to the provisions of section 18 of the [1962 c. 31.] Sea Fish Industry Act 1962, every British sea-fishery officer shall have the powers conferred by the following provisions of this section.

(2) Any such officer may seize—

(a) 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 caught by the use of a fishing boat contravening section 4(1) of this Act, or caught in contravention of a prohibition imposed by an order under section 5 thereof, where the fish are on the fishing boat or, as the case may be, on the fishing boat used in contravention of such a prohibition or are in the ownership or custody, or under the control, of the owner or master or the charterer (if any) of the fishing boat;

(c) any net or other fishing gear used in contravening the said section 4(1) or used in contravention of a prohibition imposed by an order under the said section 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.

(3) Any such officer may exercise, with respect to any fishing boat in any waters adjacent to the United Kingdom and within the fishery limits of the British Islands, and with respect to any British fishing boat registered in the United Kingdom, wherever it may be, such of the powers conferred on British sea-fishery officers by paragraphs (1) to (8) of section 12 of the [1883 c. 22.] Sea Fisheries Act 1883 as may be conferred on him by order of the Ministers, being powers which the Ministers consider necessary for the enforcement of section 1, 3, 4(1) or 5(6) of this Act or of any order under section 1, 3, 5 or 6 thereof.

(4) Any such officer may exercise with respect to any fishing boat which is British-owned but not registered under the [1894 c. 60.] Merchant Shipping Act 1894, wherever it may be, such of the powers mentioned in subsection (3) above as may be conferred on him by order of the Ministers, being powers which (in so far as they are not exercisable with respect to any such fishing boat by virtue of an order under subsection (3) above) the Ministers consider necessary for the enforcement of section 4(1) of this Act in respect of fishing for salmon or migratory trout or of any order under section 5 or 6 thereof in relation to the fishing for, or landing of, salmon or migratory trout.

(5) Any such officer may make any examination or inquiry which he deems necessary to ascertain whether any contravention of any of the following provisions of this Act, that is to say, sections 1, 3, 4(1), 5, 6 and 7, or of an order under any of the said sections, 1, 3, 5 and 6, has been committed and may administer an oath for that purpose.

(6) Any such officer shall be entitled to the same protection in respect of any action brought against him for any act done or omitted to be done in the exercise of any power conferred on him by virtue of this section to seize or detain a fishing boat as is given, with respect to the seizure or detention of any ship, to an officer of customs by section 76 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894.

(7) If any person obstructs any such officer in acting under the powers conferred by this section or refuses or neglects to comply with any requisition or direction lawfully made, or to answer any question lawfully asked, by any such officer in pursuance of this section he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50 or, in the case of a conviction in Scotland, £200 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.

16 Enforcement of orders under ss. 1 and 2

(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,

(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.

(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 county district.

17 Enforcement of orders under s. 3

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

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

(a) section 67(1)(d) of the [1923 c. 16.] Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1923 (which confers powers of seizure on water bailiffs) shall apply as if the reference therein to that Act included a reference to this Act, and the references to the said Act of 1923 in subsections (3) and (4) of the said section 67 and in section 79 of that Act (which contain provisions ancillary thereto) 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 [1963 c. 38.] 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 river authority.

(2) Where the said section 4, or any order under the said section 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 [1951 c. 26.] 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.