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

Statutory Instruments

2003 No. 229

SEA FISHERIES, ENGLAND AND WALES

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

Made

6th February 2003

Laid before Parliament

7th February 2003

Coming into force

8th February 2003

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Secretaries of State respectively concerned with sea fishing in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in exercise of the powers conferred upon them by section 30(2) of the Fisheries Act 1981(1) make the following Order:

(1)

1981 c. 29. See section 30(3) for the definition of “the Ministers”, as modified by Schedule 2, paragraph 68(5) of the Scotland Act 1998 (Consequential Modifications) (No. 2) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1820). Article 3(1) of, and Schedule 1 to, the Scotland Act 1998 (Concurrent Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1592) provide for the functions exercisable under section 30(2) of the 1981 Act to be exercised by the Ministers, concurrently with the Scottish Ministers, in relation to: British fishing boats (other than Scottish ones) within the Scottish zone; and Scottish fishing boats within British fishery limits but outside the Scottish zone. By virtue of article 2(a) of, and Schedule 1 to, the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/672) the functions exercisable under section 30(2) of the 1981 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. The Government of Wales Act 1998, Schedule 3, paragraph 5 provides that any power of a Minister of the Crown transferred to the Assembly by virtue of S.I. 1999/672 should continue to be exercisable by the Minister who, but for that transfer, would have continued to hold that power for the purpose of implementing any Community obligation. By virtue of article 2(1) of the Transfer of Functions (Agriculture and Fisheries) Order 2000 (S.I. 2000/1812), any remaining functions of the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales under section 30(2) of the 1981 Act were transferred to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Article 3 provides that this shall not apply to any function exercisable by those Secretaries of State in relation to any function which is exercisable by them by paragraph 5 of Schedule 3 to the Government of Wales Act 1998. The functions of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and one or more named Secretaries of State (however described) acting jointly were transferred to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the one or more Secretaries of State acting jointly by virtue of article 2(5) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Dissolution) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/794). The Sea Fisheries (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/790) Schedule 2, paragraph 3 provides that the function in section 30(2) of the 1981 Act is to be exercisable concurrently by the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development insofar as it relates to sea fishing within the Northern Ireland zone and to Northern Ireland fishing boats outside that zone.