The Shrimp Fishing Nets Order 2002
Citation, commencement and application1.
(1)
This Order may be cited as the Shrimp Fishing Nets Order 2002 and shall come into force on 1st January 2003.
F1(2)
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Interpretation2.
(1)
In this Order:
F2...
“codend” means the rearmost part of a net, being made up of one or more panels comprising pieces of netting of the same mesh size attached to one another along their sides in the long axis of the net by a lacing;
“Northern Ireland fishing boat” means a vessel which is registered in the register maintained under section 8 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 and whose entry in the register specifies a port in Northern Ireland as the port to which the vessel is to be treated as belonging;
“Northern Ireland zone” means the sea within British fishery limits which is adjacent to Northern Ireland.
F3“regulated fishing boat” means—
(a) a fishing boat which is registered in the United Kingdom or is British-owned, or
(b) a foreign fishing boat;
(2)
For the purposes of this Order, the mesh of a net or netting shall be measured in accordance with F4Commission Regulation (EC) No 517/2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 as regards the determination of the mesh size and assessing the thickness of twine of fishing nets.
Prohibition on fishing for shrimps without a separator trawl or sorting grid3.
(1)
No F5regulated fishing boat shall carry or deploy a net, whose mesh measures between 16 and 31 millimetres unless—
(a)
netting, the mesh of which measures at least twice that of the codend and no more than 70 millimetres, is fitted across the entire cross-section of the net in such a way that—
(i)
sea fish cannot reach the codend without first passing through the netting; and
(ii)
there is a hole in the net through which all sea fish that do not pass through the netting are able to escape;
(b)
a rigid grid, the spacing between the bars of which is no more than 20 millimetres, is fitted across the entire cross-section of the net in such a way that—
(i)
sea fish cannot reach the codend without first passing through the grid; and
(ii)
there is a hole in the net through which all sea fish that do not pass through the grid are able to escape;
(c)
no sea fish have been caught; or
(d)
(2)
The prohibition in this article shall not apply to fishing boats with either—
(a)
an aggregate beam width of 8 metres or less; or
(b)
a net headline of 8 metres or less.
F8(3)
The prohibition in this article does not apply to—
(a)
a fishing boat in the territorial sea adjacent to Wales,
(b)
a Scottish fishing boat either in the Scottish zone or outside British fishery limits,
(c)
a Northern Ireland fishing boat either in the Northern Ireland zone or outside British fishery limits, or
(d)
a foreign fishing boat outside British fishery limits.
Powers of British sea-fishery officers4.
(1)
For the purposes of enforcing this Order or any other Order (made under section 3 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967) implementing a similar prohibition to that in article 3 and applying to any category of fishing boat, a British sea-fishery officer may exercise the powers conferred by this articleF9—
(a)
in relation to a regulated fishing boat that is not a Scottish fishing boat or a foreign fishing boat, wherever it may be; and
(b)
in relation to any other regulated fishing boat, in any waters adjacent to the United Kingdom and within relevant British fishery limits.
(2)
He may go on board the boat, with or without persons assigned to assist him in his duties, and for that purpose may require the boat to stop and do anything else which will facilitate the boarding of the boat.
(3)
He may require the attendance of the master and other persons on board the boat and may make any examination and inquiry which appears to him to be necessary for the purpose of enforcing this Order and, in particular—
(a)
may examine any fish on the boat and the equipment of the boat, including the fishing gear, and require persons on board the boat to do anything which appears to him to be necessary for facilitating the examination; and
(b)
may require any person on board the boat to produce any document relating to the boat, to its fishing operations or other operations ancillary thereto or to the persons on board which is in his custody or possession and may take copies of any such document;
(c)
for the purpose of ascertaining whether the master, owner or charterer of the boat has committed an offence under section 3(5) of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 as read with this Order, may search the boat for any such document and may require any person on board the boat to do anything which appears to him to be necessary for facilitating the search;
(d)
where the boat is one in relation to which he has reason to suspect that such an offence has been committed, may seize and detain any such document produced to him or found on board for the purpose of enabling the document to be used as evidence in proceedings for the offence;
but nothing in sub-paragraph (d) shall permit any document required by law to be carried on board the boat to be seized and detained except while the boat is detained in a port.
(4)
Where it appears to a British sea-fishery officer that a contravention of any provision of this Order has at any time taken place, he may—
(a)
require the master of the boat in relation to which the contravention took place to take, or himself take, the boat and its crew to the port which appears to him to be the nearest convenient port; and
(b)
detain or require the master to detain the boat in the port;
and where such an officer detains or requires the detention of a boat he shall serve on the master a notice in writing stating that the boat will be or is required to be detained until the notice is withdrawn by the service on the master of a further notice in writing signed by a British sea-fishery officer.
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 veil nets and sorting grids as the types of device required to be used.
The Order does not apply to Scottish fishing boats in the Scottish zone or outside British fishery limits, to Northern Ireland boats in the Northern Ireland zone or outside British fishery limits or to any boats in the territorial sea adjacent to Wales. The Order prohibits all other British fishing boats from carrying or using such nets other than in certain specified circumstances (article 3).
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 per cent 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.