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Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003

Type Act
Publication 2003-07-01
Last updated 2024-05-17
State Partially repealed
Text Latest available text
Source Irish Statute Book
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articles 92

This is the most recent text the official source publishes. It is not a snapshot of the law as it stood on the date of each change.

12 amending acts · 2024-05-17, S.I. No. 236/2024 - Foreshore (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Fu…

Act to enable effect to be given to the United Nations Agreement on the implementation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, to provide for an independent appeals system in relation to the licensing of sea-fishing boats, to amend and extend the Foreshore Act 1933, the Fisheries Acts 1959 to 2001 and the Merchant Shipping (Certification of Seamen) Act 1979, and to provide for related matters

Reform history JSON API

AN ACT TO ENABLE EFFECT TO BE GIVEN TO THE UNITED NATIONS AGREEMENT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA OF 10 DECEMBER 1982 RELATING TO THE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF STRADDLING FISH STOCKS AND HIGHLY MIGRATORY FISH STOCKS, TO PROVIDE FOR AN INDEPENDENT APPEALS SYSTEM IN RELATION TO THE LICENSING OF SEA-FISHING BOATS, TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE FORESHORE ACT 1933, THE FISHERIES ACTS 1959 TO 2001 AND THE MERCHANT SHIPPING (CERTIFICATION OF SEAMEN) ACT 1979, AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS. [1st July, 2003.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1. Short title, collective citation and construction.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003.

2. Interpretation.

2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“Act of 1983” means Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1983;

“Act of 1994” means Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1994;

“appeal” means an appeal under section 7;

“Appeals Officer” means a person appointed under section 6 as an Appeals Officer for the purposes of Part 3 of this Act;

“licence” in Parts 2 and 3 of this Act, means a sea-fishing boat licence granted under F1[section 4(3)];

“licensing authority” has the meaning assigned to it by section 3;

“local authority” has the meaning assigned to it by the Local Government Act 2001;

“Minister” means the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources;

“Principal Act” means Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959.

PART 2 Licensing of Sea-Fishing Boats and Certain Sea-Fishing

3. Licensing authority.

3.—(1) The licensing authority in relation to sea-fishing boats shall be—

4. Sea-fishing boat licences.

F4[4.—(1) This section applies to any Irish sea-fishing boat.

he or she may refuse the application.

"Irish sea-fishing boat" means a sea-fishing boat which is—

"qualified body" means a body corporate in which all of the shares are beneficially owned, or the body is otherwise controlled, by one or more individuals who, or, as may be appropriate, each of whom is, a qualified individual;

"qualified individual" means an individual person who is a national of a Member State or a state belonging to the European Economic Area;

"licensing authority" has the meaning assigned to it by section 3;

"Member State" means a Member State of the European Communities.]

5. Licence application, licence and other fees.

5.—(1) An application for—

shall be subject to such fee as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, prescribe by regulations.

shall be subject to such fee, as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, prescribe by regulations.

5A. F10[Tax clearance certification requirement for applicants for sea-fishing boat licences.

5A.—...]

PART 3 Independent Appeals System

6. Appeals Officer.

6.—(1) The Minister may appoint one or more persons with not less than 5 years' experience as a practising barrister or practising solicitor before his or her appointment as an Appeals Officer (“Appeals Officer”) for the purposes of this Part. The Minister may, for stated reasons, remove such person from office.

7. Right of appeal.

7.—(1) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), a person aggrieved by a decision of a licensing authority on an application for a licence or by the revocation or amendment of a licence may, before the expiration of a period of one month beginning on the date of that decision, revocation or amendment, appeal to an Appeals Officer against that decision, revocation or amendment by serving on the Appeals Officer a notice of appeal which may be withdrawn by serving a notice to that effect.

and shall be accompanied by such documents, particulars or other information relating to the appeal as the appellant considers necessary or appropriate.

8. Oral hearings.

8.—(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), an Appeals Officer of his or her own motion or at the request of a party shall have a discretion to hold an oral hearing of an appeal under section 7.

is guilty of an offence.

9. Notification of appeals to, and supply of documents, etc., by, licensing authority.

9.—(1) An Appeals Officer shall, as soon as practicable after receiving a notice of appeal, send by post to the licensing authority a copy of the notice and shall arrange for publication of the notice by electronic means.

10. Submissions or observations by parties to appeal.

10.—(1) An Appeals Officer shall, as soon as practicable, after receiving a notice of appeal, give a copy to each other party to the appeal.

11. Submissions or observations by persons other than parties to appeal.

11.—(1) A person who is not a party may make submissions or observations in writing to an Appeals Officer in relation to an appeal.

12. Power of Appeals Officer to request submissions or observations.

12.—(1) Where an Appeals Officer is of the opinion that, in the particular circumstances of an appeal, it is appropriate in the interests of justice to request a party or other person who has made or was entitled to make submissions or observations to the Appeals Officer in relation to the appeal to make submissions or observations in relation to any matter which has arisen in relation to the appeal, he or she may, in his or her discretion, notwithstanding section 8(3) 10(4), 11(3) or 16(4), serve on the party or person a notice—

13. Appeals Officer to give copy of submissions or observations to appellant, etc.

13.—Where any submissions or observations are made under section 10, 11 or 12 to an Appeals Officer, he or she shall, as soon as practicable, give a copy of the submissions or observations to—

and the appellant or the applicant or holder, as the case may be, may make comment in writing on the submissions or observations to the Appeals Officer not later than 14 days after having been given them.

14. Power of Appeals Officer to require submission of documents, etc.

14.—(1) Where an Appeals Officer is of the opinion that any document, particulars or other information is or are necessary for the purpose of enabling him or her to determine an appeal, he or she shall serve on a party or on any person who has made submissions or observations to the Appeals Officer in relation to the appeal a notice—

15. Appeals Officer to give copy of documents, etc., submitted to appellant, etc.

15.—An Appeals Officer shall, as soon as practicable, give a copy of any document, particulars or other information received by him or her under section 9 or 14 to—

and the appellant or the applicant or holder, as the case may be, may make comment in writing on the document, particulars or other information to the Appeals Officer not later than 14 days after having been given the copy.

16. Determination of appeals.

16.—(1) An Appeals Officer shall have a discretion to dismiss an appeal where, having considered the grounds of appeal, he or she is of the opinion that the appeal is vexatious, frivolous or without substance or foundation.

then the Appeals Officer may, in his or her discretion, deal with the appeal by reference only to the condition or conditions to which the appeal relates, and such other conditions, if any, as he or she considers relevant.

and

17. Time for appeals, etc., extended where office of Appeals Officer is closed.

17.—Where a provision of or under this Act requires or allows appeals, submissions, observations or a request to be made, or documents, particulars or other information or comment to be submitted, to an Appeals Officer within a specified period and the last day of that period is a day on which the office of the Appeals Officer is closed, the appeal, submissions, observations or request, or documents, particulars or other information or comment, shall be regarded as having been received before the expiration of that period if received by the Appeals Officer on the next following day on which the office of the Appeals Officer is open.

18. Reference of certain questions of law to High Court.

18.—Where a question of law arises on appeal to an Appeals Officer, the question may be referred by the Appeals Officer to the High Court for decision.

19. Applications for judicial review.

19.—(1) A person shall not question a decision of an Appeals Officer on an appeal otherwise than by way of an application for judicial review under Order 84 of the Rules of the Superior Courts (S.I. No. 15 of 1986) (in this section referred to as “the Order”).

20. Regulations (Part 3).

20.—(1) The Minister may make regulations for—

21. Offences and penalties.

21.—(1) A person who communicates with an Appeals Officer for the purpose of influencing improperly the consideration by an Appeals Officer of an appeal or the decision of an Appeals Officer in relation to an appeal is guilty of an offence.

PART 4 Conservation and Management of Fish Stocks

22. Interpretation (Part 4).

22.—(1) In this Part—

“Act of 1978” means Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1978;

“Agreement” means the United Nations Agreement on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention relating to the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, done at New York on 4 August 1995 and signed on behalf of the State at New York on 27 June 1996, the text of which in the English language is, for convenience of reference, set out in Schedule 2;

“conservation area” shall be construed in accordance with section 24;

“conservation regulations” means regulations made under section 25;

“Convention” means the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea done at Montego Bay on 10 December 1982 and ratified by the State on 21 June 1996;

“highly migratory fish stocks” means stocks of fish species listed in Schedule 3;

“licence” means, in the case of an Irish sea-fishing boat, a licence granted under section 222B(3) of the Principal Act and, in the case of a foreign sea-fishing boat, a similar licence granted by the competent authority of the flag state of the boat;

“master”, in relation to a sea-fishing boat, includes a person in charge of the boat;

“party state” means a state which has consented to be bound by the Agreement and for which the Agreement is in force and which has been declared to be a party state by the Minister for Foreign Affairs under section 23;

“straddling fish stocks” means stocks occurring within the exclusive economic zones of two or more coastal states or both within the exclusive economic zones of two or more coastal states and in an area beyond and adjacent to such zones.

23. Party states.

23.—(1) The Minister for Foreign Affairs may by order declare—

24. Conservation areas.

24.—(1) The Minister may by order declare that an area of the high seas (the co-ordinates of which shall be set out in the order) is a conservation area (“conservation area”) being an area of the high seas which is a conservation and management area for straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks covered by a subregional or regional fisheries management organisation or arrangement for the purposes of Part III of the Agreement.

25. Regulations relating to conservation and management of straddling and highly migratory fish stocks.

25.—(1) Without prejudice to the generality of section 3(1) of the European Communities Act 1972, the Minister may by regulations (“conservation regulations”) make provision to give effect to any provision either of the treaties or of any act adopted by an institution of the European Communities which authorises any or all of the Member States of the European Communities to prohibit, or otherwise regulate in a manner specified in the provision, fishing of straddling fish stocks or highly migratory fish stocks—

26. Sea fisheries protection officers.

26.—(1) F15[...]

to verify compliance with the relevant conservation and management measures under the Agreement or any conservation regulations,

under this section is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both.

“Agreement procedures” means procedures established under Article 21(2) pursuant to Article 21(1) of the Agreement;

“serious violation” has the meaning assigned to it by Article 21(11) of the Agreement.

27. Duty of master of sea-fishing boat in conservation area.

27.—(1) It shall be the duty of the master or other person in charge of an Irish sea-fishing boat or a foreign sea-fishing boat flying the flag of a party state in any conservation area—

28. Forfeiture of sea-fishing boats in certain circumstances.

28.—F17[...]

29. Suspension or cancellation of certificate of competency of master, etc., of Irish sea-fishing boat in certain circumstances.

29.—(1) On conviction on indictment of a person F18[under a section specified in a Table to section 28 of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006], the court may at its discretion, in addition to any other fines and forfeitures to which any such person may be liable, suspend or cancel a certificate of competency held by the person being the master or other officer of the Irish sea-fishing boat concerned and require the holder to surrender the certificate to the Minister.

30. Increase in certain fines.

30.—F19[...]

31. Amendment of Schedule 3.

31.—(1) The Minister may by order amend Schedule 3 in order to reflect amendments made to the list of highly migratory species of fish in Annex 1 to the Convention in accordance with the Convention.

PART 5 Foreshore Application and Other Fees

32. Foreshore application and other fees.

32.—(1) An application for—

shall be subject to F20[such fee as the appropriate Minister may], with the consent of the Minister for Finance, prescribe.

shall be subject to F20[such fee as the appropriate Minister may], with the consent of the Minister for Finance, prescribe.

“Act of 1933” means the Foreshore Act 1933;

F22["appropriate Minister" means the Minister exercising the functions concerned having regard to section 1B (inserted by the Foreshore and Dumping at Sea (Amendment) Act 2009) of the Foreshore Act 1933;]

“prescribe” means prescribe by regulations.

Section 6.

SCHEDULE 1 Appeals Officer

Terms and conditions of appointment

1.

The term of office of an Appeals Officer shall be 3 years and, subject to paragraph 3, a person may be reappointed to that office for a second or subsequent term.

2.

An Appeals Officer shall be paid such remuneration and such allowances for expenses as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may from time to time determine.

3.

An Appeals Officer—

4.

(a) A person who is, for the time being—

shall be disqualified from being appointed as an Appeals Officer.

he or she shall thereupon cease to be an Appeals Officer.

Avoidance of conflict of interests

5.

An Appeals Officer shall advise the licensing authority and the appellant forthwith of any particular appeal which might give rise to a conflict of interests for the Appeals Officer and shall not consider that appeal any further.

Accounts and Audit

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