The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Quota and Third Country Fishing Measures) Order 2001

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Order—

“the Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 2848/2000 fixing for 2001 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where limitations in catch are required(1);

“Council Regulation 2847/93” means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2847/93 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy(2), as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 2870/95(3), Council Decision (EC) 95/258(4), Council Regulation (EC) 2489/96(5), Council Regulation (EC) 2205/97(6), Council Regulation (EC) 2635/97(7) and Council Regulation (EC) 2846/98(8);

“relevant British fishing boat” means a fishing boat, other than a Scottish fishing boat, which is registered in the United Kingdom under Part II of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995(9) or is owned wholly by persons qualified to own British ships for the purposes of that part of that Act;

“relevant offence” means an offence under:

“Scottish fishing boat” means a fishing 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 Scotland as the port to which the vessel is to be treated as belonging;

“Scottish zone” has the same meaning as in the Scotland Act 1998(10);

“specified Community provision” means a provision of the Council Regulation specified in column 1 of Schedule 1 or 2 as read with any qualifying words relating to that provision in that column; and

“third country fishing boat” means a fishing boat flying the flag of and registered in a state other than a Member state of the European Community.

(2) In this Order—

(a)the term “within relevant British fishery limits” does not include—

(i)the Scottish zone;

(ii)the territorial sea adjacent to Wales;

(iii)the territorial sea adjacent to the Isle of Man;

(iv)the territorial sea adjacent to the Bailiwick of Jersey; and

(v)seas within British fishery limits adjacent to Guernsey, as defined by section 8 of the Fishery Limits Act 1976(11);

(b)any reference to any relevant British fishing boat “wherever it may be” does not include such a fishing boat while in the territorial sea adjacent to Wales;

(c)any reference to a document, logbook or declaration includes, in addition to a document, logbook or declaration in writing—

(i)any map, plan, graph or drawing;

(ii)any photograph;

(iii)any data, howsoever reproducd, communicated via a satellite-based vessel monitoring system established under Article 3.1 of Regulation 2847/93,

(iv)any disk, tape, sound track or other device in which sounds or other data (not being visual images) are recorded so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom; and

(v)any film (including microfilm), negative, tape, disk or other device in which one or more visual images are recorded so as to be capable (as aforesaid) of being reproduced therefrom.

(3) In this Order—

(a)any reference to a Community instrument is a reference to that instrument as amended on the date this Order is made; and

(b)any reference to a Schedule or to an article shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference respectively to a Schedule to this Order or an article of this Order.

(4) For the purpose of the prohibition contained in paragraph 2 of Annex IV to the Council Regulation (which prohibits the landing of herring unsorted from the remainder of the catch at a harbour where adequate sampling programmes are not in place), a harbour in England or Northern Ireland shall not be regarded as having in place a system which is adequate for sampling a catch that includes unsorted herring unless, before the landing of the catch in question—

(a)the master of the fishing boat in question has applied to a British sea-fishery officer at the harbour in question for a decision as to the suitability of that harbour for landing the catch on that boat; and

(b)the British sea-fishery officer has decided that the sampling systems at the harbour are adequate, having regard to the overall size and characteristics of the catch, for the purpose of monitoring effectively the landing of that catch, and has so notified the master.