Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003

• Permanent Page URL

Sea fisheries protection officers.

26.—(1) Section 220 of the Principal Act is amended by—

(a) substituting for paragraph (b) the following paragraph:

“(b) every member of the Defence Forces (not below the rank of corporal or leading rating) for the time being serving on board any ship, vessel or aircraft belonging to or employed in the service of the State;”,

and

(b) deleting paragraph (e).

(2) Subject to any Agreement procedures and subsection (3) in the case of a foreign sea-fishing boat flying the flag of another party state, a sea fisheries protection officer may, for the purpose of enforcing conservation regulations or section 27 or ensuring compliance with conservation and management measures for straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks established by a subregional or regional fisheries management organisation or arrangement under the Agreement, with respect to an Irish sea-fishing boat or a foreign sea-fishing boat flying the flag of another party state, within a conservation area, do all or any of the following:

(a) order the boat to be stopped for the purposes of identification or of allowing the officer to board it,

(b) board and search the boat,

(c) inspect—

(i) the boat and any gear, facilities, fish and fish products on the boat, and

(ii) any relevant documents, and for that purpose to require the master or a member of the crew of the boat to produce any certificates of registry, licences, log-books, papers or other documents relating to the boat, for inspection and take extracts from or copies of such,

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

(d) require the name and address of every person on board the boat,

(e) if the officer suspects there has been a serious violation or a serious contravention of, or a serious failure to comply with, any conservation regulations, section 27 or subsection (6), by any person on board the boat, the officer may, without warrant, arrest the person and seize and detain the boat and take the boat and all persons on board the boat to the nearest or most convenient port and there or at such other suitable port detain the boat and persons,

(f) use such reasonable force as is necessary for the purpose of exercising the foregoing powers,

(g) exercise such other powers of inspection, in respect of a foreign sea-fishing boat flying the flag of another party state, as established in any Agreement procedures.

(3) A sea fisheries protection officer may only exercise the powers of a sea fisheries protection officer under subsection (2) or (9) in respect of a foreign sea-fishing boat flying the flag of another party state in accordance with and if permitted by any Agreement procedures.

(4) A sea fisheries protection officer boarding or intending to board or inspecting a sea-fishing boat under this section shall—

(a) in the case of a foreign sea-fishing boat flying the flag of another party state, comply with any Agreement procedures,

(b) present credentials to the master of the boat and produce a copy of the text of the relevant conservation and management measures under the Agreement or conservation regulations pursuant to those measures in the conservation area in question,

(c) initiate notice to the flag state at the time of the boarding and inspection,

(d) not interfere with the master's ability to communicate with the authorities of the flag state during the boarding and inspection,

(e) provide a copy of a report on the boarding and inspection to the master and to the authorities of the flag state concerned, noting therein any objection or statement which the master wishes to have included in the report,

(f) promptly leave the boat following completion of the inspection if he or she finds no evidence of a serious violation, and

(g) avoid the use of force except when and to the degree necessary to ensure the safety of the officer and where the officer is obstructed, intimidated or interfered with in exercising his or her duties. The degree of force used shall not exceed that reasonably required in the circumstances.

(5) Where, following boarding and inspection under this section of a foreign sea-fishing boat flying the flag of a party state, there are clear grounds for believing that the boat has committed a serious violation, and the flag state concerned has either failed to respond or failed to take any action as required under Article 21(6) or (7) of the Agreement, a sea fisheries protection officer may remain on board the boat and secure evidence and may require the master to assist in further investigation, including, where appropriate, by bringing the boat without delay to the nearest appropriate port as specified in any Agreement procedures.

(6) A person who—

(a) obstructs, intimidates or interferes with a sea fisheries protection officer in the exercise of any of the powers conferred on him or her, or

(b) refuses or neglects to comply with any requirement of such officer or answer any question asked by such officer,

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.

(7) In a prosecution for an offence under subsection (6) it is a defence for the defendant to show that the sea fisheries protection officer concerned failed to comply with subsection (4).

(8) A sea fisheries protection officer or a person acting under the orders of a sea fisheries protection officer is not liable in any proceedings for anything done in the purported exercise of the powers of a sea fisheries protection officer under this section or section 27 if the court is satisfied that the act was done in good faith and that there were reasonable grounds for doing it.

(9) Where a sea fisheries protection officer in exercise of the powers conferred on him or her under subsection (2)(e) has detained a sea-fishing boat and the persons on board the boat at a port, sections 233A (inserted by section 11 of the Act of 1994), 234 (inserted by section 13 of the Act of 1978 and amended by section 12 of the Act of 1994), 235 (inserted by section 14 of the Act of 1978) and 236 of the Principal Act apply and shall be construed accordingly and any reference in those sections to Chapter II or III of Part XIII of the Principal Act shall be construed as including a reference to this Part.

(10) In this section—

“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.