Citation and commencement

1. This Order may be cited as the Tope (Prohibition of Fishing) Order 2008 and comes into force on 6th April 2008.

Application

2.–(1) Subject to the provisions of this article, this Order applies within British fishery limits.

(2) This Order does not apply to fishing vessels–

(a) within the meaning of Article 3(c) of Council Regulation (EC) 2371/2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy(3), which are registered in another member State; or

(b) registered in a third country.

(3) Articles 3 and 4 do not apply in the Northern Ireland zone, the Scottish zone, Wales or the territorial sea adjacent to the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man(4).

(4) In paragraph (3)–

(a) "the Northern Ireland zone" has the meaning given by section 98 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998(5);

(b) "the Scottish zone" has the meaning given by section 126(1) of the Scotland Act 1998(6); and

(c) "Wales" has the meaning given by section 158(1) of the Government of Wales Act 2006(7).

Fishing prohibition

3.–(1) Fishing for tope (other than by rod and line) is prohibited.

(2) If tope are taken on board, they may be retained provided that the total liveweight does not exceed 45 kilogrammes per day.

(3) In paragraph (2), "liveweight" means the weight of the gutted carcasses of tope multiplied by a factor of 1.125.

Trans-shipment prohibition

4. The trans-shipment of tope is prohibited.

Landing prohibition

5. No person may land in England–

(a) tope caught by rod and line, or

(b) beheaded tope.

Powers of British sea-fishery officers

6.–(1) For the purposes of enforcing this Order, an officer may exercise the following powers.

(2) An officer may go on board a fishing boat, with or without persons assigned to assist in the exercise of the officer´s duties, and for that purpose may require the boat to stop and do anything else which will facilitate the boarding of the boat.

(3) An officer may require the attendance of the master and other persons on board the boat and may make any examination or inquiry appearing to the officer to be necessary for the purpose of enforcing this Order and, in particular–

(a) may examine any fish on the boat and the equipment of the boat, including the fishing gear, and require persons on board the boat to do anything appearing to the officer to be necessary for facilitating the examination;

(b) may require any person on board the boat to produce any document relating to the boat, to its fishing operations or other operations ancillary thereto or to the persons on board, which is in that person´s custody or possession and may take copies of any such document;

(c) for the purpose of ascertaining whether the master, owner or charterer of the boat has committed an offence under section 5 or 6 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 as read with this Order, may search the boat for any such document and may require any person on board the boat to do anything appearing to the officer to be necessary for facilitating the search; and

(d) where the boat is one in relation to which the officer has reason to suspect that such an offence has been committed, may seize and detain any such document produced to the officer or found on board for the purpose of enabling the document to be used as evidence in proceedings for the offence.

(4) Nothing in paragraph (3)(d) enables the officer to seize and detain any document required by law to be carried on board the boat except while the boat is detained in a port.

(5) Where it appears to an officer that a contravention of any provision of this Order has at any time taken place, the officer may–

(a) take, or require the master to take, the boat and its crew to the port appearing to the officer to be the nearest convenient port; and

(b) detain, or require the master to detain, the boat in the port.

(6) An officer who detains or requires the detention of a boat must serve on the master a notice in writing stating that the boat will be or is required to be detained until the notice is withdrawn by the service on the master of a further notice in writing signed by an officer.

(7) In this article, "officer" means a British sea-fishery officer.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

Article 3 of this Order prohibits the fishing for tope by any method other than by rod and line. The retention on board of tope up to a maximum liveweight of 45 kilogrammes per day is permitted.

Article 4 prohibits the trans-shipment of tope.

Article 5 prohibits the landing in England of tope caught by rod and line or beheaded tope.

Article 6 sets out the powers of British sea-fishery officers in respect of this Order, in addition to their powers under the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967. Criminal sanctions are prescribed by sections 5(1), 5(7), 6(5), 6(5A) and 11 of that Act.

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Defra Resource Centre, Lower Ground Floor, Ergon House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the Office of Public Sector Information website.