Sea-Fisheries (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing) Regulations, 2010

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Year: 2010
• Citation: IR SI 554/2010

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 26th November, 2010.

I, BRENDAN SMITH, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 3 and 14 of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 (No. 8 of 2006) and the Sea-Fisheries, Foreshore and Dumping at Sea (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2007 ( S.I. No. 707 of 2007 ) (as adapted by the Agriculture and Food (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2007 ( S.I. No. 705 of 2007 )), and in relation to Regulation 6 of these Regulations, section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving full effect to Council Regulation (EC) No. 1005/2008 of 29 September 20081 , Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1010/2009 of 22 October 20092 and Commission Regulation (EU) No. 86/2010 of 29 January 20103 , hereby make the following regulations:

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Sea-Fisheries (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing) Regulations 2010.

Interpretation

2. (1) In these Regulations—

“Commission Regulation” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1010/2009 of 22 October 2009 as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 86/2010 of 29 January 2010;

“Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1005/2008 of 29 September 2008 as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 86/2010 of 29 January 2010.

(2) A word or expression that is used in the Council Regulation or the Commission Regulation and that is also used in these Regulations has, in these Regulations, the same meaning as in the Council Regulation or the Commission Regulation.

Landing and transhipment

3. (1) A person shall not, in contravention of Article 4(2), 5 or 7(1) of the Council Regulation—

(a) access port facilities within the State,

(b) use or attempt to use port services within the State, or

(c) engage in transhipment or landing operations at a port within the State in relation to—

(i) a sea-fishing boat within the exclusive fishery limits of the State,

(ii) an Irish sea-fishing boat wherever it may be, or

(iii) a person engaged in buying, handling, weighing, transhipping, transporting, landing, processing, storing, documenting or selling fish within the State or the exclusive fishery limits of the State.

(2) A person shall not tranship, or attempt to tranship, a fishery product, in contravention of Article 4(3) or Article 4(4) of the Council Regulation in relation to—

(i) a sea-fishing boat within the exclusive fishery limits of the State,

(ii) an Irish sea-fishing boat wherever it may be, or

(iii) a person engaged in buying, handling, weighing, transhipping, transporting, landing, processing, storing, documenting or selling fish within the State or the exclusive fishery limits of the State.

(3) A person on board a third country sea-fishing boat shall not commence landing or transhipment operations—

(a) subject to Article 7(3), in contravention of Article 7(2) (landing or transhipment subject to check or inspection) of the Council Regulation,

(b) in contravention of Article 8(1) (declaration indicating the quantity of fishery products to be landed or transhipped and date and place of each catch,), or

(c) in contravention of—

(i) Article 2(1) of the Commission Regulation (which establishes the form of prior notification to be given for the purposes of Article 6(1) of the Council Regulation),

(ii) Article 2(2) of the Commission Regulation (which establishes the form of prior notification to be given for the purposes of Article 6(1) of the Council Regulation if all catches are accompanied by a validated catch certificate),

(iii) Article 3(1) of the Commission Regulation (which establishes the form of the pre-landing declaration for the purposes of Article 8(1) of the Council Regulation),

(iv) Article 3(2) of the Commission Regulation (which establishes the form of the pre-transhipment declaration for the purposes of Article 8(1) of the Council Regulation),

(v) Article 3(4)(b) of the Commission Regulation (which provides that the declarations referred to in sub-paragraphs (iii) and (iv) shall be in the English language), or

(vi) the time limit established by Article 3(5) of the Commission Regulation,

or

(d) without the prior written authorisation of a sea-fisheries protection officer based at the port of landing, in relation to—

(i) a sea-fishing boat within the exclusive fishery limits of the State,

(ii) an Irish sea-fishing boat wherever it may be, or

(iii) a person engaged in buying, handling, weighing, transhipping, transporting, landing, processing, storing, documenting or selling fish within the State or the exclusive fishery limits of the State.

Designated ports

4. (1) Killybegs is the port within the state designated for the purposes of Article 5 of the Council Regulation.

(2) In proceedings for an offence, evidence that a port, whether within the State or otherwise, was at the time of the alleged offence designated for the purposes of Article 5 of the Council Regulation may be given by production of a copy of the Official Journal of the European Communities purporting to contain a list of designated ports.

Prior notice of landing, etc.

5. (1) A person shall not, by failing to give accurate prior notice in the form set out in Annex IIA to the Commission Regulation, or, if all catches are accompanied by a validated catch certificate, Annex IIB to the Commission Regulation, contravene—

(a) Article 6 of the Council Regulation, or

(b) in the case of a sea-fishing boat to which Article 1 of the Commission Regulation applies, that Article, in relation to—

(i) a sea-fishing boat within the exclusive fishery limits of the State,

(ii) an Irish sea-fishing boat wherever it may be, or

(iii) a person engaged in buying, handling, weighing, transhipping, transporting, landing, processing, storing, documenting or selling fish within the State or the exclusive fishery limits of the State.

(2) A person shall not contravene Article 6(2) of the Council Regulation by failing, in relation to a sea-fishing boat to which that provision applies, to accompany the notice referred to in paragraph (1) with a catch certificate validated in accordance with Chapter III of the Council Regulation.

(3) The authority within the State to which notice must be transmitted for the purposes of Article 6 of the Council Regulation is the Fisheries Monitoring Centre, Naval Base, Haulbowline, Co. Cork by telephone (+ 353 21 437 8752 or + 1890 252081), facsimile (+ 353 21 437 8096) or electronic mail (fmcireland@defenceforces.ie).

(4) A certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of the Naval Service and to certify that on a specific day or days or during the whole of a specified period information required to be communicated was not received by the Fisheries Monitoring Centre is, without proof of the signature of the person purporting to sign the certificate or that he or she is an officer of the Naval Service, evidence, unless the contrary is shown, of the matters stated in the certificate and that the information was not communicated.

Functions of Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, etc

6. (1) The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority may exercise the functions—

(a) specified in Articles 9, 10, 11, 24 (1), 25(2) and 55 (1) of the Council Regulation,

(b) conferred on the competent authorities by Articles 15, 16 (1), 17, 18 and 21(1) of the Council Regulation,

(c) conferred on an issuing authority by Articles 9, 10(2), 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28 of the Commission Regulation, or

(d) conferred on a liaison office by Title IV of the Commission Regulation.

(2) A function referred to in paragraph (1), other than that specified in Article 55(1) of the Council Regulation, may be exercised on behalf of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority by a sea-fisheries protection officer.

(3) A function conferred on the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority by paragraph (1), so far as it relates to the import of a fishery product may be exercised by an authorized officer (within the meaning of the European Communities (Veterinary Checks on Products Imported from Third Countries) Regulations...