The Undersized Spider Crabs Order 2000

Statutory Instruments

2000 No. 1502

SEA FISHERIES, ENGLAND

CONSERVATION OF SEA FISH

The Undersized Spider Crabs Order 2000

Made

7th June 2000

Laid before Parliament

8th June 2000

Coming into force

30th June 2000

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretaries of State respectively concerned with the sea fishing industry in Scotland and Wales, acting jointly, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 1(1), (4) and (6) of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967(1) and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, and the said Minister, the said Secretaries of State and the Secretary of State concerned with the sea fishing industry in Northern Ireland, acting jointly, in exercise of the powers conferred upon them by section 15(3) of the said Act, and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Order:

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the Undersized Spider Crabs Order 2000 and shall come into force on 30th June 2000.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Order—

“the Act” means the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967;

“Jersey” means the Bailiwick of Jersey;

“size”, in relation to a spider crab, means the length of the carapace, along the midline, from the edge of the carapace between the rostrums to the posterior edge of the carapace and shall be measured as shown in the Schedule to this Order;

“spider crab” means crab of the species Maia squinado;

“territorial sea adjacent to Jersey” means the sea within 12 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea adjacent to Jersey is measured.

(2) In this Order—

(a) the term “within relevant British fishery limits” does not include:

(i) the territorial sea adjacent to Wales;

(ii) the territorial sea adjacent to the Isle of Man; and

(iii) the territorial sea adjacent to Jersey;

(b) any reference to any relevant British fishing boat “wherever it may be” does not include such a fishing boat while in:

(i) the territorial sea adjacent to Wales; or

(ii) the territorial sea adjacent to Jersey.

Prescribed minimum size for landing spider crabs in England

3.—(1) For the purposes of section 1(1) of the Act (which prohibits the landing in England and Wales of any sea fish of any description, being a fish of a smaller size than such size as may be prescribed in relation to sea fish of that description), there is hereby prescribed as the minimum size for male spider crabs a size of 130 millimetres.

(2) Landing from foreign fishing boats is exempted from the prohibition imposed by section 1(1) of the Act as read with paragraph (1) above.

(3) This article applies only to landings in England.

Powers of British sea-fishery officers in relation to fishing boats

4.—(1) For the purpose of the enforcement of section 1(1) of the Act as read with this Order, a British sea-fishery officer may exercise the powers conferred by paragraphs (2) to (4) below—

(a) in relation to any relevant British fishing boat wherever it may be; and

(b) in relation to any Scottish fishing boat which is within relevant British fishery limits.

(2) He may go on board the boat, with or without persons assigned to assist him in his duties, and for that purpose may require the boat to stop and do anything else which will facilitate the boarding of the boat.

(3) He may require the attendance of the master and other persons on board the boat and may make any examination and inquiry which appears to him to be necessary for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (1) above and, in particular—

(a) may examine any fish on the boat and the equipment of the boat including the fishing gear, and require persons on board the boat to do anything which appears to him to be necessary for facilitating the examination;

(b) may require any person on board the boat to produce any document relating to the boat, to its fishing operations or other operations ancillary thereto or to the persons on board which is in his custody or possession and may take copies of any such document;

(c) for the purpose of ascertaining whether the master, owner or charter of the boat has committed an offence under section 1(1) of the Act as read with this Order, may search the boat for any such document and may require any person on board the boat to do anything which appears to him to be necessary for facilitating the search; and

(d) where the boat is one in relation to which he has reason to suspect that such an offence has been committed, may seize and detain any such document produced to him or found on board for the purpose of enabling the document to be used as evidence in proceedings for the offence,

but nothing in sub-paragraph (d) above shall permit any document required by law to be carried on board the boat to be seized and detained except while the boat is detained in a port.

(4) Where it appears to a British sea-fishery officer that a contravention of this Order has at any time taken place within British fishery limits he may—

(a) require the master of the boat in relation to which the contravention took place to take, or may himself take, the boat and its crew to the port which appears to him to be the nearest convenient port, and

(b) detain or require the master to detain the boat in the port;

and where such an officer detains or requires the detention of a boat he shall serve on the master notice in writing stating that the boat will be or is required to be detained until the notice is withdrawn by the service on the master of a further notice in writing signed by a British sea-fishery officer.

Elliott Morley

Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

25th May 2000

John Reid

Secretary of State for Scotland

7th June 2000

Paul Murphy

Secretary of State for Wales

25 May 2000

Peter Mandelson

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

7th June 2000

Article 2(1)

SCHEDULE

MEASUREMENT OF THE SIZE OF A SPIDER CRAB

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order prescribes a minimum size for the landing of male spider crabs (Maia squinado) in England (article 3(1)). There is an exemption from the minimum landing size for the landing of spider crabs from foreign fishing boats (article 3(2)).

The Order also gives British sea-fishery officers further enforcement powers in relation to British fishing boats (article 4).

Offences and penalties are prescribed respectively by section 1(7) and (8) and section 11 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967, as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1991 (c. 53).

This Order is made in reliance on the power conferred on Member States by Article 46.1 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 850/98 (OJ No. L125, 27.04.98, p.1), for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms, which authorises Member States to take certain national measures for the conservation and management of stocks.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Sea Fisheries Conservation Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Room 421d, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.

(1)

1967 c. 84. Section 1 was substituted by the Fisheries Act 1981 (c. 29) section 19(1), and was amended by paragraph 38(a) of Schedule 13 to the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (c. 21) and paragraph 43(2) and (3) of Schedule 2 to the Scotland Act 1998 (Consequential Modifications) (No. 2) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1820). Section 15(3) was substituted by the Sea Fisheries Act 1968 (c. 77) Schedule 1, paragraph 38(3) and amended by the Fishery Limits Act 1976 (c. 86) Schedule 2, paragraph 16(1) and S.I. 1999/1820, paragraph 43(2)(b). See section 22(2) for definitions of “the Ministers” for the purposes of section 1 and 15(3); section 22(2) was amended by the Fisheries Act 1981, sections 19(2)(d) and 45(b) and (c) and by S.I. 1999/1820, paragraph 43(12) of Schedule 2. By virtue of article 2(a) of the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/672) the functions exercisable under section 1 of the 1967 Act were transferred to the National Assembly in so far as exercisable in relation to Wales (defined in section 155(1) of the Government of Wales Act 1998 (c. 38) as including “the sea adjacent to Wales out as far as the seaward boundary of the territorial sea”); in respect of waters beyond Wales these functions remain exercisable by the Ministers. Article 3(1) and Schedule 1 of the Scotland Act 1998 (Concurrent Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1592) provide for the functions exercisable under section 15(3) of the 1967 Act to be exercised by the Ministers, concurrently with Scottish Ministers, in relation to: relevant British fishing boats within the Scottish zone; and Scottish fishing boats within British fishery limits but outside the Scottish zone.