EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CONTROL ON MUSSEL FISHING) REGULATIONS 2008
Source: Iris Oifigiúl 2008-09-05

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paragraphs: These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Control on Mussel Fishing) Regulations 2008 and come into operation on 23 August 2008.
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paragraphs: In these Regulations “mussel seed” means mussels (mytilus edulis) whether alive or dead and includes any part of a mussel and the shell, or any part of the shell, of a mussel seed not intended for direct human consumption.
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paragraphs: (1) A person shall not fish for or attempt to fish for mussel seed or cause or permit another person to fish for or attempt to fish for mussel seed within an area described in the Schedule.
(2) A person shall not buy, handle, weigh, tranship, transport, land, process, store or sell mussel seed that has been caught or harvested in contravention of paragraph (1).
(3) Nothing in this regulation affects the harvesting of mussel seed in accordance with an aquaculture licence (within the meaning of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997 (No. 23 of 1997).
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paragraphs: (1) If a sea-fisheries protection officer has reasonable cause to suspect that—
(a) a person may have mussels in his or her possession or under his or her control,
(b) mussels may be, are or were present on a premises,
(c) a premises is used for the storage, processing, sale or supply of mussels, or
(d) a document relating to an activity mentioned at subparagraph (a), (b) or (c) may be, is or was present on a premises,
(i) stop a person, vehicle, vessel or container,
(ii) board and search a vehicle, vessel or container,
(iii) make a record using any means including writing, photography or video,
(iv) require the name and address of a person,
(v) require of a person the ownership, identity and origin of the mussel seed, or
(vi) require a person in charge or control of a vessel, vehicle or container to refrain from moving it.
(2) If a sea-fisheries protection officer has reasonable cause to suspect that an offence is being or has been committed under these Regulations, the sea-fisheries protection officer may, in addition to the powers exercisable by him or her under paragraph (1)—
(a) search a person, where the officer considers it necessary,
(b) seize and detain a vessel, vehicle, container, equipment, machinery or other thing, or
(c) seize and detain any mussel seed or fishing gear to which the alleged offence relates.
(3) A sea-fisheries protection officer shall not enter, except with the consent of the occupier, a private dwelling, unless he or she has obtained a search warrant under Regulation 6 other than if he or she has reasonable cause to suspect that before a search warrant could be sought in relation to the dwelling anything to which paragraph (1) or (2) relates is being or is likely to be destroyed or disposed of.
(4) A sea-fisheries protection officer may use reasonable force, if necessary, in exercise of his or her functions under this Regulation.
(5) A sea-fisheries protection officer, when exercising a power under this Regulation may be accompanied by other persons and may take with him or her, or those persons may take with them, any equipment or materials to assist the officer in the exercise of the power.
(6) A sea-fisheries protection officer is not liable in any proceedings for anything done in the purported exercise of his or her powers under this Regulation if the court is satisfied that the act was done in good faith and that there were reasonable grounds for doing it.
(8) If a member of the Garda SÃ­ochÃ¡na has reasonable grounds to suspect that a person has committed an offence under these Regulations, the member may without warrant arrest the person.
(9) If in the course of exercising any powers under these Regulations a sea-fisheries protection officer or a member of the Garda SÃ­ochÃ¡na finds or comes into possession of any thing that the officer or member believes to be evidence of an offence or suspected offence under these Regulations, it may be seized and retained for use in evidence in criminal proceedings.
(10) Nothing in these Regulations operates to prejudice a power conferred by another enactment to search, or to seize or detain property, which may be exercised by a member of an Garda SÃ­ochÃ¡na or an officer of Customs and Excise.
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paragraphs: A person or the servant, agent or employee of the person shall give any assistance requested to a sea-fisheries protection officer or person who accompanies a sea-fisheries protection officer.
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paragraphs: (1) If a judge of the District Court is satisfied by information on oath of a sea-fisheries protection officer that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting evidence of or relating to the commission or intended commission of an offence under these Regulations is to be found on a premises, the judge may issue a search warrant.
(2) A search warrant under this Regulation shall be expressed and operate to authorise a named sea-fisheries protection officer, accompanied by such sea-fisheries protection officers or other persons as the named officer thinks necessary, at any time, within one month from the date of issue of the warrant, on production if so requested of the warrant, to enter (if necessary by use of reasonable force) the premises named in the warrant.
(3) If a premises is entered under a search warrant, a sea-fisheries protection officer so entering may exercise all or any of the powers conferred on a sea-fisheries protection officer under these Regulations.
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paragraphs: A person shall not—
(a) obstruct or impede a sea-fisheries protection officer (or a person who accompanies a sea-fisheries protection officer) in the exercise of his or her powers under Regulation 4,
(b) fail, without reasonable cause, to comply with a requirement or direction of a sea-fisheries protection officer under Regulation 4, or
(c) in purporting to give information to a sea-fisheries protection officer for the performance of the officer’s functions under Regulation 4—
(i) make a statement that he or she knows to be false in a material particular or recklessly make a statement which is false in a material particular, or
(ii) fail to disclose a material particular.
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paragraphs: (1) A person who contravenes or aids or abets a contravention of—
(a) Regulation 3, 5 or 7, or
(b) a direction or requirement of a sea-fisheries protection officer under Regulation 4,
(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €5,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both, or
(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €250,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, or to both.
(2) If an offence under these Regulations is committed by a body corporate and is proven to have been so committed with the consent, connivance or approval of or to have been attributable to the wilful neglect on the part of any person, being a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate or a person who was purported to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, commits offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she is guilty of the offence.
(3) If the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (2) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the functions of management as if the member were a director or manager of the body corporate.
(4) A summary offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Sea Fisheries Protection Agency.
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paragraphs: The Mussel Seed (Prohibition on Fishing) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 194 of 2008) are revoked.