S.I. No. 502/2004 - Sea Fisheries (Weighing Procedures For Herring, Mackerel and Horse Mackerel (No 3) Regulations, 2004

Statutory Instruments

SI No. 502 of 2004

Sea Fisheries (Weighing Procedures for Herring, Mackerel and Horse Mackerel (No 3) Regulations, 2004

S.I. No. 502 of 2004

SEA FISHERIES (WEIGHING PROCEDURES FOR HERRING, MACKEREL AND HORSE MACKEREL) (NO.3) REGULATIONS 2004

I, Dermot Ahern, Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of point 12 of Annex IV of Council Regulation (EC) No 2287/2003 of 19 December 2003¹ , hereby make the following Regulations:

1.

• (2) These Regulations come into operation on 1 August 2004.

2.

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

“Annex” means point 12 of Annex IV to the Council Regulation;

“Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 2287/2003 of 19 December 2003 and any future Regulation of the Council made after the making of these Regulations, which amends, extends, replaces or consolidates (with or without modification) the Council Regulation (as defined herein);

“competent authority” means the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources;

“sea fisheries protection officer” means an officer of the Minister authorised by the Minister as a sea fisheries protection officer for the purposes of the Fisheries Acts 1959 to 2003 and of these Regulations;

“Sea-fishing boat” means a boat registered on the Irish sea-fishing boat register, on the EU Community Fishing Fleet Register, or a Third country fishing vessel;

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

“Member State” means a Member State of the European Communities other than the State;

“Third country” means all countries other than the State and a Member State of the European Communities;

“Register of Fishing Boats” means the Register of Fishing Boats established and maintained pursuant to the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 (as adapted and amended by any subsequent enactments);

“trailer unit” means the unit used to carry fish in bulk from a fish landing port to a fish processing plant;

• (2) A reference to a paragraph is a reference to a paragraph of the Regulation in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other Regulation is intended.

• (3) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Council Regulation has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Council Regulation.

• (4) A sea fisheries protection officer shall have all the powers under Sections 233, 233A and 234 of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959 (No. 14 of 1959) for the purposes of enforcing the provisions of these Regulations.

3.

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6.

• • the name of the vessel;

• • the port of landing;

• • the estimated time of arrival at that port;

• • the quantities in kilograms live weight by species retained on board; and

• • contact details.

7.

(2)Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, the following provisions shall apply to horse mackerel landings in the period up to and including the 31^st day of October 2004.

• (a) For such landings of horse mackerel, the catch retained on board must consist of at least 90% horse mackerel.

• (b) All such landings of horse mackerel must be landed into either the ports of Killybegs or Rathmullan.

• (c) All such landings of horse mackerel must be discharged into trailer units of known carrying capacity as set out in (i) hereunder:

• (i) All trailer units used to carry horse mackerel must have a pre-determined calibrated maximum carrying capacity as approved by the competent authority. Each trailer unit shall be uniquely identifiable and have a known maximum carrying capacity assigned to it.

• (d) In all cases where trailer units are used to transport horse mackerel, as referenced in 7(2)(c)(i) of this Regulation, the buyer of the fish shall ensure that all trailer units used are primed before taking any fish with a combination of water and/or ice to a minimum of 40% of the known maximum carrying capacity of each trailer unit.

• (e) Prior to taking any horse mackerel, the buyer of the fish shall ensure that all trailer units used are weighed at a weighbridge approved by the competent authority. Following confirmation by the competent authority that a minimum of 40% of the known maximum carrying capacity of each trailer unit used has been primed using a combination of water and/or ice, a seal will be applied to each trailer unit by the competent authority.

• (f) Before any trailer unit may take any horse mackerel, the competent authority will ensure that all trailer units used are sealed and carry the minimum specified volume of water and/or ice for that trailer unit.

• (g) The weight of horse mackerel landed shall be determined as 50% of the sum of the known calibrated maximum carrying capacities of all the trailer units used (rounded up to the nearest whole number).

• (3) In all cases where the provisions set out in paragraph 2 are not met, the provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply.

8.

• (2) In the event of mixed catches being recorded in the logbook, the master of a sea-fishing boat to which these Regulations apply shall provide to a sea fisheries protection officer, immediately upon arrival in port, a representative sample of the catch in accordance with the provisions of Council (EC) Regulation No. 954/87 of 1 April 1987.

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11.

• (2) An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister.

• (3) Where an offence under these Regulations has been committed by a body corporate and it is proved to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any person who, when the offence was committed, was a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or a person purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

• (4) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (3) shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the functions of management as if such a member were a director or manager of the body corporate.

12.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation).

These Regulations transpose into Irish law the provisions of point 12 of Annex IV of Council Regulation (EC) No 2287/2003 which establishes weighing procedures for fishing vessels landing more than 10 tonnes of herring, mackerel and horse mackerel per landing. Specific provisions (applicable up to the end of October 2004) apply in the case of horse mackerel landings.

Masters or other persons in charge of the Irish sea-fishing boats in question will be required to give 4 hours advance notification of landings to Sea Fisheries Protection Officers. Landings in excess of 10 tonnes shall only be permitted in designated ports.

Footnotes