S.I. No. 18/1983:

HERRING (RESTRICTION OF FISHING IN THE NORTH IRISH SEA) ORDER, 1983.

HERRING (RESTRICTION OF FISHING IN THE NORTH IRISH SEA) ORDER, 1983.

I, PADDY O'TOOLE, Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 223A (inserted by the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1978 (No. 18 of 1978)), of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act, 1959 (No. 14 of 1959), and the Fisheries (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order, 1977 ( S.I. No. 30 of 1977 ) (as adapted by the Fisheries (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1978 ( S.I. No. 195 of 1978 )), hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Herring (Restriction of Fishing in the North Irish Sea) Order, 1983.

2. In this Order--

"sea-fishing boat" means any ship, boat or other vessel of whatsoever kind used for sea fishing;

"the specified area" means that part of the Irish Sea that is within the exclusive fishery limits of the State, that lies within twelve nautical miles seaward of the baseline (within the meaning of the Maritime Jurisdiction Act, 1959 (No. 22 of 1959)) and is north of the parallel of 53° north latitude.

3. ( a ) Fishing for herring in the specified area is hereby prohibited and the master of a sea-fishing boat shall not cause or permit the boat or any person on board to engage in such fishing in the specified area.

( b ) In a prosecution of an offence consisting of a contravention of paragraph (a) of this Article, it shall be a defence to prove--

(i) that the fishing to which the office relates was carried out using drift nets having meshes through the smallest mesh of which a flat gauge 2 millimetres thick and 54 millimetres wide passed easily when the net was stretched diagonally length-wise and was wet, and

(ii) that at the time of the commission of the offence the fishing-boat concerned did not exceed 40 feet in registered length and was normally based at a place in the county of Louth, the county of Meath, the county of Dublin or in that part of the county of Wicklow that is north of the parallel of 53° north latitude.

4. (1) ( a ) A sea-fishing boat shall not have herring on board within the specified area, and

( b ) the master of a sea-fishing boat shall not cause or permit the boat or any person on board to have herring on board within the specified area, unless in each case, the fishing for the herring did not contravene Article 3 of this Order.

(2) It shall be for the person charged with an offence under paragraph (1) of this Article to show, if it be the case, that the fishing for the herring to which the charge relates did not contravene Article 3 of this Order.

5. In any proceedings in which a contravention of Article 4 of this Order is alleged to have taken place in the specified area, it shall be a defence to prove that the herring to which the proceedings relate--

( a ) were taken in the course of fishing for sprat and were inextricably mixed with catches of that species and did not exceed 10 per cent by weight of the total catch so taken,

( b ) were taken in the course of fishing for species other than sprat and were inextricably mixed with catches of that species and did not exceed 5 per cent by weight of the total catch so taken.

6. The use of equipment for grading fish on board a sea-fishing boat being used for fishing for herring in the specified area is hereby prohibited.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 18th day of January, 1983.

PADDY O'TOOLE,

Minister for Fisheries and Forestry.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Order continues the ban on herring fishing in that part of the Irish Sea which is north of the parallel of 53° north and within 12 miles from the baseline. It also makes an exemption from the ban for vessels of 40 feet and under (registered length) using drift nets with meshes of not less than 54mm (diagonal measurement).