The Shrimp Fishing Nets (Wales) Order 2003

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order regulates the carriage and use of any fishing nets with mesh size between 16 and 31 millimetres, measured in accordance with Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2108/1984 of 23rd July 1984. It sets out the national provisions called for by Article 25 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 850/98 of 30th March 1998, by specifying separator trawls and sorting grids as the types of device required to be used.

The Order applies to British fishing boats in Welsh waters and prohibits them from carrying or using such nets other than in certain specified circumstances (article 3). The taking of measures for the conservation and management of stocks under Article 46 of Council Regulation 850/98 is subject to a condition that the measures apply solely to the fishermen of the Member State concerned.

The specified exceptions are where defined attachments are fitted to the net (article 3(1)(a)-(b)), where no sea fish have been caught (article 3(1)(c)) or where less than 60% by live weight of the total catch comprises common shrimps and/or Aesop shrimps, and any sea fish retained on board are retained in accordance with Article 25 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 850/98 (article 3(1)(d)).

If any boat breaches this prohibition, the master, owner and charterer is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding £5,000 on summary conviction and on conviction on indictment to a fine (sections 3(5) and 11(1)(b) of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967). The court may also impose an additional fine not exceeding the value of the fish caught with the net or order the net’s forfeiture (section 11(2)-(3) of the 1967 Act).

Additionally the Order confers powers of enforcement on British sea-fishery officers for the purposes of enforcing this Order or any equivalent Order implementing similar prohibitions in relation to any categories of fishing boat.

A Regulatory Appraisal has been prepared and deposited in the Library of the National Assembly. A copy may be obtained from the Agriculture and Fisheries Policy Division, Welsh Assembly Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.