The Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) Order 2003

Absences from port etc.

3.—(1) Subject to article 4, a person in charge of a relevant British fishing boat which, during any part of the period specified in paragraph 1 (duration of controls) of Annex XVII, either—

(a) contravenes—

(i) the relevant prohibition in paragraph 6(a) (absences from port), or

(ii) paragraph 7 (single type of gear), 8 (use of gear in different areas) or 9 (use of gears in given periods)

of Annex XVII, or

(b) is absent from port in excess of the number of days permitted to it by the following provisions of this article,

is guilty of an offence.

(2) In this Order, the person in charge of a relevant British fishing boat is its owner, master or charterer (if any), and the number of days permitted to such a boat for any period identified below is the basic number, that is to say—

(a) for December 2003, the number indicated in the remainder of paragraph 6(a) as read with paragraph 9 of Annex XVII which is applicable to the boat in accordance with any fishing gear it carries while absent from port, and

(b) in application of paragraph 11(a) (aggregation of periods) of Annex XVII, for—

(i) the period beginning when this Order comes into force and ending on 31st March 2003, and

(ii) each successive period of two months the first of which starts on 1st April 2003 and the last of which ends on 30th November 2003,

• double the number indicated in the remainder of paragraph 6(a) as read with paragraph 9 of Annex XVII which is applicable to the boat in accordance with any fishing gear it carries while absent from port,

cumulatively adjusted in accordance with the following provisions of this article.

(3) In relation to any relevant British fishing boat and in respect of any type of fishing gear it may carry, there is—

(a) added to the basic number for any period such number of days (if any) as may be allocated to the United Kingdom under paragraph 6(b) to (d) of Annex XVII for the purpose of being such an addition, and

(b) subtracted from the basic number for the period specified in paragraph (2)(b)(i) of this article such number of days (if any) as it has been absent from port carrying that gear in the period starting on 1st February 2003 and ending immediately before the coming into force of this Order.

(4) Where a number of days is transferred from one period to the next in accordance with article 5, that number is—

(a) deducted from the basic number for the initial period, and

(b) added to the basic number for the next period.

(5) Where a number of days is transferred in the same period from a donor to a recipient in accordance with article 6, that number is—

(a) deducted from the basic number for the donor for that period, and

(b) added to the basic number for the recipient for that period.

(6) Where during any period fishing gear is affixed to two or more fishing boats there shall be deducted from the basic number for each such boat that is a relevant British fishing boat in relation to that gear and that period a number of days equal to the number when it was absent from port but the gear was being carried by any other such boat.

(7) Where during any period a relevant British fishing boat has purported to transfer days relating to fishing gear in accordance with article 6 in excess of its unused days, there shall be deducted from its basic number relating to that gear for the next period a number equal to the number of days in that excess.

(8) Where during any period a relevant British fishing boat has been absent from port carrying fishing gear in excess of the days permitted to it by this article, there shall be deducted from its basic number relating to that gear for the next period a number equal to the number of days in that excess unless, in consequence of the operation of article 4, the absence in question would not be an offence.

(9) In any proceedings for an offence under paragraph 3(1)(b) of this article, it shall be a defence for a person to show that the number of days of absence from port carrying any type of fishing gear comprising the offence was no greater than the number of days of absence carrying that gear purportedly but not validly transferred to him under article 6 and—

(a) he did not know, and

(b) it was reasonable for him not to suspect,

that the donor was not entitled to transfer them.

(10) In this article, the relevant prohibition in paragraph 6(a) of Annex XVII is the prohibition on absence from port carrying the gear defined in paragraph 4(b) of Annex XVII in the area defined in paragraph 2(a) of Annex XVII, and the remainder of paragraph 6(a) of Annex XVII is paragraph 6(a) save as covered by the relevant prohibition.