The Sea Fishing (Licences and Notices) (Scotland) Regulations 2011
Citation, commencement, extent and application1.
(1)
These Regulations may be cited as the Sea Fishing (Licences and Notices) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 and come into force on 1st April 2011.
(2)
These Regulations extend to Scotland and the Scottish zone only and, insofar as they extend beyond Scotland and the Scottish zone, they do so only as a matter of Scots law.
(3)
These Regulations apply to Scottish fishing boats wherever they may be.
Interpretation2.
In these Regulations—
“electronic communication” includes facsimile transmission and any method of transferring data by computer;
“newspaper” means such newspaper circulating within, or within any part of, Scotland which the Scottish Ministers think appropriate;
“nominee” means either—
(a)
an individual resident in Scotland; or
(b)
a body incorporated in a member State and having a place of business in Scotland,
appointed by the master, owner or charterer of a Scottish fishing boat to receive, on any such person’s behalf, licences and notices communicated in accordance with these Regulations;
“notice” means any notice of variation, suspension or revocation of a licence, whether that licence was granted before or after the coming into force of these Regulations;
“sea fishing licence” means a licence granted by the Scottish Ministers under section 4 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967.
Communication of licences and notices3.
(1)
A licence is to be granted by the Scottish Ministers to the master, owner or charterer of a Scottish fishing boat by communicating it to that master, owner or charterer or a nominee (as the case may be)—
(a)
by delivering it personally to the master, owner, charterer or nominee;
(b)
by sending it to the master, owner, charterer or nominee by post at the address or place of business of any such person;
(c)
by leaving it at the address or place of business of the master, owner or charterer, or in the hands of any person there; or
(d)
by transmitting it to the master, owner or charterer by electronic communication.
(2)
A notice is to be effected by—
(a)
communicating it to a nominee, in a manner specified in paragraph (1)(a) or (b);
(b)
communicating it to the master, owner or charterer of the Scottish fishing boat—
(i)
by delivering it personally to the master, owner or charterer; or
(ii)
by transmitting it to the master, owner or charterer by electronic communication; or
(c)
publishing it—
(i)
in a newspaper; or
(ii)
(3)
Where a notice effected by publication in accordance with paragraph (2)(c) is a notice to which paragraph (5) applies, it must either—
(a)
provide that it applies to all sea fishing licences; or
(b)
specify those sea fishing licences to which it relates by reference to species, area or method or any combination thereof,
but it will not require to specify the name or port letters and number, or the name of any master, owner or charterer or nominee (as the case may be), of any Scottish fishing boat.
(4)
Where a notice effected by publication in accordance with paragraph (2)(c) is not a notice to which paragraph (5) applies, it must specify the sea fishing licences to which it relates by reference to the name or port letters and number of any Scottish fishing boat in respect of which those licences were granted.
(5)
This paragraph applies to a notice which varies, suspends or revokes—
(a)
all sea fishing licences; or
(b)
all sea fishing licences authorising fishing—
(i)
for one or more specified description of sea fish;
(ii)
in one or more specified areas;
(iii)
by a specified method or methods; or
(iv)
by reference to a combination of two or more of the matters referred to in heads (i) to (iii).
Delivery of licences and giving of notices4.
(1)
A licence or a notice communicated personally is to be treated as delivered or given immediately it is communicated.
(2)
Subject to paragraph (5), a licence or a notice communicated by post is to be treated as delivered or given 48 hours after the end of the day on which it was posted.
(3)
A licence or a notice communicated by leaving it at a nominee’s address or place of business or in the hands of a person there, or by transmission by electronic communication, is to be treated as delivered or given 24 hours after the time of leaving or transmitting.
(4)
A notice effected by publication in accordance with regulation 3(2)(c) is—
(a)
where it is published in a newspaper, to be treated as given at the end of the day on which it is published;
(b)
where it is published on a website, to be treated as given immediately it is published.
(5)
Where a licence or a notice—
(a)
is communicated by post; and
(b)
is to be treated as delivered or given, in accordance with this regulation—
(i)
on a Sunday;
(ii)
(iii)
on a local holiday,
the licence or notice is to be treated as delivered or given at the end of the next day following which is not a bank holiday or a local holiday.
Time at which licences and notices to have effect5.
Subject to regulation 6—
(a)
a licence communicated in accordance with regulation 3(1), and a notice communicated in accordance with regulation 3(2)(b), has effect at the time it is treated as delivered or given in accordance with regulation 4;
(b)
a notice communicated in accordance with regulation 3(2)(a) has effect 24 hours after the time it is treated as given in accordance with regulation 4;
(c)
a notice communicated in accordance with regulation 3(2)(c)(i) has effect 48 hours after the time it is treated as given in accordance with regulation 4; and
(d)
a notice which is effected by publication in accordance with regulation 3(2)(c)(ii) has effect 24 hours after midnight on the day upon which the notice is treated as given under regulation 4(4)(b).
Special provision for certain licences and notices6.
(1)
A licence or a notice communicated by more than one of the methods specified in regulation 3 has effect at the earliest of the times corresponding to each such method specified in regulation 5.
(2)
A licence or a notice, which purports on its face to have effect at a time later than that at which it is treated as having effect in accordance with regulation 5, has effect at the time shown on its face.
Revocation of the Sea Fishing (Licences and Notices) (Scotland) Regulations 19947.
Transitional provision8.
St Andrew’s House,
Edinburgh
These Regulations make provision in accordance with section 4B of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 (c.84) (“the 1967 Act”) for the manner in which a sea fishing licence under section 4 of that Act or a licence to receive trans-shipped fish under section 4A of that Act may be granted and in which a notice of variation, revocation or suspension of any such licence may be effected in accordance with section 4(9) or 4A(10), respectively, of the 1967 Act. The Regulations extend to Scotland and the Scottish zone and apply to Scottish fishing boats wherever they may be (regulation 1(3)).
Regulation 3(1) provides for the granting of a licence by the Scottish Ministers to the master, owner or charterer of a Scottish fishing boat by communicating it, by a method specified, to that person or to a person nominated by the master, owner or charterer to receive it (“a nominee”). Regulation 3(2) provides for the effecting of a notice by communicating it to a nominee or to the master, owner or charterer of the Scottish fishing boat. Regulation 3(3) to (5) provides for the effecting of notices of variation, suspension or revocation of all sea fishing licences or all sea fishing licences of a particular type granted by the Scottish Ministers by publishing a notice in a newspaper or on the Scottish Government website (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/Sea-Fisheries/17681/licencevariations).
Regulation 4 specifies the time at which a licence or notice communicated in accordance with regulation 3 will be treated as having been delivered or given, according to the method of communication adopted.
Regulation 5 specifies the time at which a licence or notice treated as delivered or given in accordance with regulation 4 will have effect, according to the method of communication adopted.
Regulation 6 makes provision for the time at which a licence or a notice will take effect where—
more than one method of communicating it is employed; and
the licence or notice states that it will take effect later than provided for under regulation 5.
Regulation 7 revokes the Sea Fishing (Licences and Notices) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/2813) insofar as they extend to Scotland, and regulation 8 contains a transitional provision in consequence of that revocation.
A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies may be obtained from Marine Scotland, Victoria Quay, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ.