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	Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland
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"Northern Ireland fishing boat" means a vessel which is registered in the register maintained under section 8 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995[3] and whose entry in the register specifies a port in Northern Ireland as the port to which the vessel is to be treated as belonging;

"Northern Ireland zone" means the sea within British fishery limits which is adjacent to Northern Ireland.

    (2) For the purposes of this Order, the mesh of a net or netting shall be measured in accordance with Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2108/1984 of 23rd July 1984 laying down detailed rules for determining the mesh size of fishing nets[4] as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2550/1997[5].

    (3) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954[6] shall apply to this Order as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Prohibition on fishing for shrimps without a separator trawl or sorting grid
     3. A Northern Ireland fishing boat shall not carry or deploy a net, whose mesh measures between 16 and 31 millimetres unless –

(a) netting, the mesh of which measures at least twice that of the codend and no more than 70 millimetres, is fitted across the entire cross-section of the net in such a way that –


(i) sea fish cannot reach the codend without first passing through the netting; and

(ii) there is a hole in the net through which all sea fish that do not pass through the netting are able to escape;



(b) a rigid grid, the spacing between the bars of which is no more than 20 millimetres is fitted across the entire cross-section of the net in such a way that –



(i) sea fish cannot reach the codend without first passing through the grid; and

(ii) there is a hole in the net through which all sea fish that do not pass through the grid are able to escape;



(c) no sea fish have been retained on board the boat; or

(d) where sea fish have been caught, less than 60% by live weight of the total catch retained comprises common shrimps (Crangon spp), Aesop shrimps (Pandalas montagui) or a combination of the two and the retention of sea fish on board the boat is consistent with Article 25 of Council Regulation 850/98 of 30th March 1998 for conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms[7] as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 973/2001 of 14th May 2001[8].

Powers of British sea-fishery officers
     4. —(1) For the purposes of enforcing this Order, a British sea-fishery officer may exercise the powers conferred by this Article in relation to a Northern Ireland fishing boat in the Northern Ireland zone and a Northern Ireland fishing boat outside British fishery limits.

    (2) He may go on board the boat, with or without persons assigned to assist him in his duties, and for that purpose may require the boat to stop and do anything else which will facilitate the boarding of the boat.

    (3) He may require the attendance of the master and other persons on board the boat and may make any examination and inquiry which appears to him 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 which appears to him to be necessary for facilitating the examination; and

(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 his 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 3(5) 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 which appears to him to be necessary for facilitating the search;

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

but nothing in sub-paragraph (d) shall permit any document required by law to be carried on board the boat to be seized and detained except while the boat is detained in a port.

    (4) Where it appears to a British sea-fishery officer that a contravention of any provision of this Order has at any time taken place, he may –

(a) require the master of the boat in relation to which the contravention took place to take, or may himself take, the boat and its crew to the port which appears to him to be nearest convenient port; and

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

and where such an officer detains or requires the detention of a boat he shall 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 a British sea-fishery officer.



Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on


26th July 2005.

L.S.

Liam McKibben
A senior officer of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

[2] By S.I. 2002/970 Article 3(1) and Schedule 1, paragraph 3(1)(b) and (m) and (2)back

[3] 1995 c. 21back

[4] O.J. No. L194, 24.7.1984, p. 22back

[5] O.J. No. L349, 19.12.1997, p. 1back

[6] 1954. c. 33 (N.I.)back

[7] O.J. No. L125, 24.4.1998, p. 1back

[8] O.J. No. L137, 19.5.2001, p. 1back

 © Crown copyright 2005