The Sea Fishing (Marking and Identification of Passive Fishing Gear and Beam Trawls) Order (Northern Ireland) 2008

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order provides for the enforcement of Community restrictions and other obligations relating to the marking and identification of passive gear and beam trawls deployed by fishing vessels as set out in Commission Regulation (EC) No. 356/2005, of 2 March 2005, p.8, OJ L56, as amended. In the context of this Order passive gear means longlines, gillnets, entangling nets, trammel nets, drifting gillnets and any associated anchoring, floating or navigational gear.

This Order applies to Northern Ireland fishing boats wherever they are, except within the territorial sea and to all other boats in the Northern Ireland zone, but outside the territorial sea.

This Order comes into operation on 31^st December 2008.

Article 3 of the Order creates offences in respect of breaches of those articles of the Regulation referred to in column 1 of the Schedule to the Order. Penalties are specified for such offences in Article 4. Provision is made for the recovery of fines in Article 5.

The Order confers powers of enforcement on British sea-fishery officers (Articles 6 and 7). Article 8 makes provision for the protection of British sea fishery officers and their assistants and Article 9 provides for offences and penalties should they be obstructed in the course of their investigations under this Order. Article 10 makes provision in respect of offences by bodies corporate, partnerships and unincorporated associations. Article 11 allows for the admissibility in evidence of records compiled for the purposes of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2847/93.