S.I. No. 317/1987 - Herring (Restriction on Fishing) Order, 1987.

S.I. No. 317 of 1987.

HERRING (RESTRICTION ON FISHING) ORDER, 1987.

I BRENDAN DALY, Minister for the Marine, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 223A (inserted by section 9 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1978 (No. 18 of 1978), and amended by section 4 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1983 (No. 27 of 1983)) 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 Tourism, Fisheries and Forestry (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1987 ( S.I. No. 82 of 1987 )), hereby order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Herring (Restriction on Fishing) Order, 1987.

2. This Order shall come into operation on the 10th day of December, 1987, and shall cease to have effect from the 31st day of January, 1988.

3. (1) In this Order "the specified area" means the parts of the sea described in the Annex to the Communication and therein referred to as Division VIa), Division VIb), Division VIIb) and Division VIIc).

(2) In this Article "the Communication" means the Communication from the Commission of the European Communities on the description of the I.C.E.S. sub-areas and Divisions used for the purposes of fisheries statistics and regulations in the North East Atlantic. ⁽¹⁾

¹O.J. No. C.140/3 of 3/6/1982.

(3) In any proceedings in which a contravention of this Order is alleged prima facie evidence of the Communication may be given by the production of a copy of the Official Journal purporting to contain the Communication.

4. Neither an Irish sea-fishing boat nor a person on board an Irish sea-fishing boat shall engage in fishing for herring in the specified area and the master of an Irish sea-fishing boat shall not cause or permit the boat or any person on board to engage in such fishing in the specified area.

5. (1) An Irish sea-fishing boat shall not have herring on board within the specified area.

(2) The master of an Irish sea-fishing boat shall not cause or permit the boat or any person on board to have herring on board within the specified area.

6. The master of a sea-fishing boat shall not cause or permit the boat to be used within the specified area for the transhipment of herring from an Irish sea-fishing boat.

7. (1) In a prosecution for an offence under Article 6 of this Order the following shall be prima facie evidence that the sea-fishing boat concerned was, at the time of the alleged offence, used for the transhipment of herring in contravention of that article:

( a ) evidence that such sea-fishing boat had on board any books, papers or other documents from which it appears to the Court that on the day on which the offence is alleged to have been committed herring were received on board the boat otherwise than in the course of fishing,

( b ) any admission by any person who is for the time being the master or other person in charge, or another member of the crew, of such sea-fishing boat that at such time she was so used, or

( c ) any other matter from which it so appears that such sea-fishing boat was so used or which in the opinion of the Court suggests, or tends to suggest, that such sea-fishing boat was so used;

(2) In a prosecution for an offence under Article 5 of this Order it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that the herring to which the prosecution relates:

( a ) were taken in the course of fishing that did not contravene Article 4 of this Order, or

( b ) were taken outside the specified area.

(3) In a prosecution for an offence under this Order it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that the herring to which the prosecution relates were taken on board an Irish sea-fishing boat which does not exceed 50 feet in registered length and, at the time of the alleged offence, was normally based in a port bordering on the specified area and was fishing for herring by means of drift nets only.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 10th day of December, 1987.

BRENDAN DALY,

Minister for the Marine.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The effect of this Order is to restrict fishing for, transhipping, landing or having on board herring by Irish sea-fishing boats off the North-West coast of Ireland (in ICES Divisions V1a), V1b), V11b) and V11c)) from the 10th day of December, 1987 until the 31st day of January, 1988.

This Order exempts specified small Irish sea-fishing boats engaged in fishing for herring by means of drift nets only from these restrictions.