The Regulation of Scallop Fishing (Scotland) Order 2017

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order, which applies in relation to the Scottish zone and to landings in Scotland, introduces measures for the conservation of king scallops.

Article 3 prescribes a minimum size (of 105 millimetres) for the landing of king scallops in any part of Scotland, apart from two specified areas: an area of coastline in the south west of mainland Scotland and the Shetland Islands. By virtue of Annex XII of Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 (OJ L 125, 27.4.1998, p.1) for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms (“the Council Regulation”) the minimum size for the landing of scallops remains 100 millimetres in the Shetland Islands and 110 millimetres in the area of coastline in the south west of mainland Scotland.

Article 4 restricts the number of scallop dredges that can be towed at any time by British fishing boats in the Scottish zone, and the way in which such dredges can be deployed.

Article 5 provides for two alternative exemptions from the restrictions in article 4, in so far as they apply to scallop dredging by British fishing boats within the Scottish zone. The exemptions are that the restrictions in article 4 do not apply in two specified situations in which the total length of any tow bar deployed does not exceed 7.5 metres, no more than 2 tow bars are deployed at any time and no more than 8 scallop dredges are towed from either side of the fishing boat.

Article 6 imposes a requirement for a fully functional remote electronic monitoring system to be installed on board a British fishing boat while it is engaged in scallop dredging in the Scottish zone. This requirement does not apply to any boat which is exempt from the restrictions in article 4, by virtue of article 5. Nor does it apply to any boat which dredges for king scallops within the Scottish zone, but solely in that part of the Scottish zone which does not form part of Scottish inshore waters or any other part of the territorial sea of the United Kingdom adjacent to Scotland.

Article 7 revokes article 5 of the Prohibition of Fishing for Scallops (Scotland) Order 2003 (S.S.I. 2003/371), as that provision is superseded by this Order.

Offences for breach of this Order are contained in section 1(7) and 3(5) of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 (“the Act”). Penalties, which are set out at section 11 of the Act, include a fine not exceeding £50,000 on summary conviction and a fine on conviction on indictment. The court may impose an additional fine not exceeding the value of the fish caught in contravention of the Act or caught with fishing gear that contravened the Act. The court may also order the forfeiture of that fish or fishing gear.

For the purposes of this Order, a British sea-fishery officer has the powers conferred by section 15 of the Act, by Part 7 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 (asp 5) and by sections 35, 36 and 39 of the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2013 (asp 7).

The Order was made in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 46 of the Council Regulation. Article 46 of the Council Regulation authorises Member States to take certain national measures for the conservation and management of local stocks.

The provisions contained in the Order were notified in draft to the European Commission in accordance with the requirements of Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and of rules on Information Society services (codification) (OJ L 241, 17.9.2015, p.1).

A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared in relation to this Order and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. A copy of this can be obtained from Marine Scotland, the Scottish Government, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ.