1987 No. 1565

SEA FISHERIESCONSERVATION OF SEA FISH

The Sea Fish Licensing (Variation) Order 1987

Made

Laid before Parliament

Coming into force

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and the Secretaries of State respectively concerned with the sea fishing industry in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, acting jointly, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 4, 15(3) and 20(1) of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 19671, and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Order:

Title and commencement1

This Order may be cited as the Sea Fish Licensing (Variation) Order 1987 and shall come into force on 8th September 1987.

Variation of the Sea Fish Licensing Order 1983

2

The Sea Fish Licensing Order 19832 is hereby varied in accordance with the following provisions of this Order.

3

In article 3(1) thereof (prohibition of fishing without a licence and exceptions thereto), for the words “Isle of Man Board of Agriculture and Fisheries” there shall be substituted the words “Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Isle of Man”.

4

In article 3(2)(b) thereof after paragraph (v) the word “or” shall be omitted and after paragraph (vi) there shall be inserted the following —

; or

vii

in the Firth of Clyde, that is to say the area of sea which lies landward of a line drawn from a point on the mainland of Scotland at 55°17'.9 north latitude and 5°47'.8 west longitude (Mull of Kintyre) to a point on the mainland of Scotland at 55°00'.5 north latitude and 5°09'.4 west longitude (Corsewall Point)

5

For article 4 thereof (retention on board of fish) there shall be substituted the following article —

Retention on board of fish4

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 4(9A)(b) of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 (return to the sea of fish the fishing for which is prohibited), there may be retained on board any fishing boat to which this Order applies a quantity of sea fish consisting of one or more of the descriptions of sea fish specified in an entry in column 2 of Schedule 4 to this Order, the fishing for which is for the time being prohibited by or under this Order, and which —

a

has been taken on board that fishing boat in a statistical division of ICES VII specified in column 1 of that Schedule opposite that entry, in the course of fishing in that statistical division of ICES VII for any description of sea fish the fishing for which is not for the time being prohibited by or under this Order or any other enactment; and

b

does not exceed 10 per cent by weight of the total catch of sea fish on board that fishing boat.

6

After Schedule 3 thereof (orders revoked) there shall be inserted the Schedule to this Order.

In witness whereof the Official Seal of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is hereunto affixed on 4th September 1987.

John Selwyn GummerMinister of State, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Ian LangMinister of State, Scottish Office
Ian GristParliamentary Under Secretary of State, Welsh Office
Brian S. MawhinneyParliamentary Under Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office

SCHEDULECONTAINING NEW SCHEDULE 4 TO THE SEA FISH LICENSING ORDER 1983

Article 6

SCHEDULE 4AREAS OF SEA AND DESCRIPTIONS OF SEA FISH CAUGHT THEREIN TO WHICH RETENTION ON BOARD PROVISIONS APPLY

Article 4

(1) Area of sea

(2) Description of sea fish

ICES VIIa1000

Cod, plaice, whiting

ICES VIIb, c

Whiting

ICES VIId

Plaice, sole, whiting

ICES VIIe1000

Plaice, sole, whiting

ICES VIIf to k

Plaice, sole, whiting

Note:

Where an entry in column 1 of this Schedule is marked with an asterisk the following waters are excluded from the area of sea referred to in that entry —

Waters lying within 12 miles of the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea adjacent to the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands respectively is measured, but not extending beyond a line every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points of such baselines and the corresponding baselines adjacent to the United Kingdom and France respectively.

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order varies the Sea Fish Licensing Order 1983, as varied, (“the 1983 Order”), which requires a licence to be obtained for fishing by British fishing boats in specified areas of sea for the principal species of sea fish. Boats not more than ten metres long, other than when fishing for herring in specified areas, are excepted from that requirement; this Order removes from that exception such boats fishing for herring in the Firth of Clyde (article 4).

The Order replaces article 4 of the 1983 Order (retention on board of fish) and adds a new Schedule 4 thereto to provide for the retention on board a fishing boat of a quantity of one or more of the descriptions of sea fish specified in that Schedule not exceeding ten per cent by weight of the total catch of sea fish on board the fishing boat, the fishing for which is for the time being prohibited, caught in a specified statistical division of ICES VII as a by-catch in the course of lawful fishing for another description of sea fish. In consequence fish of descriptions not so specified, the fishing for which is for the time being prohibited under article 3 of the 1983 Order, must in all circumstances be returned to the sea forthwith in accordance with the provisions of section 4(9A) of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 (inserted by section 20(4) of the Fisheries Act 1981) (articles 5 and 6).