1999 No. 74
SEA FISHERIES
CONSERVATION OF SEA FISH

The Sea Fish (Specified Sea Area) (Regulation of Nets and Prohibition of Fishing Methods) (Variation) Order 1999

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 3(1) and (3), 5(1), 15(3), 20(1) and 22(2)(a) 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.

(1)

This Order may be cited as the Sea Fish (Specified Sea Area) (Regulation of Nets and Prohibition of Fishing Methods) (Variation) Order 1999, and shall come into force on 15th February 1999.

Variation2.

(1)

The Sea Fish (Specified Sea Area) (Regulation of Nets and Prohibition of Fishing Methods) Order 19892 shall be varied in accordance with the following paragraphs of this article.

(2)

In paragraph (1)(a) of article 2 for the words “65 millimetres” there shall be substituted the words “71 millimetres”.

(3)

For paragraph (b) of article 3 there shall be substituted the following new paragraph:

“(b)

The carriage of drift nets, beach seines, and ring nets or the use of such nets where they are attended in that area of sea bounded by a line beginning at the southernmost point of Portland Bill (002°27'18" west longitude); thence due south to 050°30'00" north latitude; thence due east to 000°47'06" west longitude; thence due north to the southernmost tip of Selsey Bill.”.

Elliot Morley
Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Sewel
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Wales

Jon Owen Jones
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Welsh Office
Marjorie Mowlam
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order varies the Sea Fish (Specified Sea Area) (Regulation of Nets and Prohibition of Fishing Methods) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/1284).

The Order varies the minimum mesh size of gill and other specified nets which are prohibited in the specified area, from 65 millimetres to 71 millimetres (article 2(2)). This brings the mesh size range for the gill nets and other nets covered by this Order into line with the mesh size ranges of gill nets which are governed by Council Regulation (EC) 850/98 (O.J. L125 27.4.98 p.1.).

The Order also reduces the area in which the derogation from the prohibition on the use of gill and other specified nets of certain mesh sizes applies (article 2(3)).

A single regulatory impact assessment has been prepared in relation to both this Order and the Bass (Specified Areas) (Prohibition of Fishing) (Variation) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/75) and deposited in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament. Copies may be obtained from:

Fisheries Division III

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

Room 421d Nobel House

17 Smith Square

London SW1P 3JR