Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 6th October, 2017.

I, MICHAEL CREED, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 3 and 15 of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 (No. 8 of 2006) and of 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, Fisheries and Food (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011 ( S.I. No. 455 of 2011 )), hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Velvet Crab (Conservation of Stocks) Regulations 2017.

(2) These Regulations come into operation on 1 January 2018.

2. In these Regulations—

“velvet crab” means Necora Puber;

“sell” includes offer, expose or keep for sale, invite an offer to buy, or distribute for reward.

3. These Regulations apply to velvet crab with a carapace size less than 65 millimetres, measured as the maximum width of the carapace measured perpendicular to the anteroposterior midline of the carapace, taken by an Irish sea fishing boat.

4. (1) The master or person in charge of an Irish sea-fishing boat shall not cause or permit a velvet crab to which these Regulations apply to be retained on board the sea-fishing boat.

(2) The master or person in charge of an Irish sea-fishing boat shall not cause or permit any person on board to retain a velvet crab to which these Regulations apply on board the sea-fishing boat.

5. The master or person in charge of an Irish sea-fishing boat shall not cause or permit the boat to be used for the landing or transhipment of a velvet crab to which these Regulations apply.

6. The master or person in charge of an Irish sea-fishing boat shall cause a velvet crab to which these Regulations apply, taken by the Irish sea-fishing boat, to be carefully handled and returned alive to the sea without delay.

7. A person shall not buy, handle, tranship, transport, land, process, store or sell a velvet crab taken by an Irish sea fishing boat to which these Regulations apply.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

26 September 2017.

MICHAEL CREED,

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

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

The effect of these Regulations is to introduce a Velvet Crab Minimum Landing Size.