(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order replaces the the Sea Fishing (Specified Western Waters) (Restrictions on Landing) Order 1987 (“the 1987 Order”) which prohibited, with exceptions, the landing in the United Kingdom of sea fish of descriptions specified in that Order caught in ICES sub-area VII or VIII. This Order extends the scope of that prohibition to include the landing of any sea fish (other than salmon or migratory trout), subject to exceptions (articles 3 and 4). The prohibition on landing in the 1987 Order did not apply to landing by any British fishing boat whose length was not more than 10 metres. This Order disapplies that exemption in the case of herring caught in certain divisions of ICES sub-area VII (article 4(b)) and amends the definition of “length” to that calculated in accordance with the rules specified in Article 2(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2930/86 (OJ No. L274, 25.9.86, p. 1) (article 2). The Order also makes two new exemptions to the prohibition on landing (article 4(e) and (f)).
The Order omits the provision in the 1987 Order which permitted the landing of cod, plaice and whiting caught in ICES division VIIa otherwise than under the authority of a licence as a by-catch not exceeding 10% by weight of the landed catch in the course of lawful fishing for another description of sea fish.
British sea-fishery officers are given certain powers for the purpose of the enforcement of the Order (article 5).