Sea Fisheries (Weighing Procedures For Herring, Mackerel and Horse Mackerel (No 3) Regulations, 2004
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Sea Fisheries (Weighing Procedures for Herring, Mackerel and Horse Mackerel) (No.3) Regulations 2004.
(2) These Regulations come into operation on 1 August 2004.
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paragraphs: (1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires -
“Minister” means the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources;
“Annex” means point 12 of Annex IV to the Council Regulation;
“Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 2287/2003 of 19 December 2003 and any future Regulation of the Council made after the making of these Regulations, which amends, extends, replaces or consolidates (with or without modification) the Council Regulation (as defined herein);
“competent authority” means the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources;
“sea fisheries protection officer” means an officer of the Minister authorised by the Minister as a sea fisheries protection officer for the purposes of the Fisheries Acts 1959 to 2003 and of these Regulations;
“Sea-fishing boat” means a boat registered on the Irish sea-fishing boat register, on the EU Community Fishing Fleet Register, or a Third country fishing vessel;
“master”, in relation to a sea-fishing boat, includes a person in charge of the boat;
“Member State” means a Member State of the European Communities other than the State;
“Third country” means all countries other than the State and a Member State of the European Communities;
“Register of Fishing Boats” means the Register of Fishing Boats established and maintained pursuant to the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 (as adapted and amended by any subsequent enactments);
“trailer unit” means the unit used to carry fish in bulk from a fish landing port to a fish processing plant;
(2) A reference to a paragraph is a reference to a paragraph of the Regulation in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other Regulation is intended.
(3) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Council Regulation has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Council Regulation.
(4) A sea fisheries protection officer shall have all the powers under Sections 233, 233A and 234 of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959 (No. 14 of 1959) for the purposes of enforcing the provisions of these Regulations.
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paragraphs: The provisions of the Annex are hereby prescribed and adopted and accordingly any infringement of the Annex after the commencement of these Regulations shall be an infringement of these Regulations.
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paragraphs: In a prosecution for an infringement of the Annex in respect of which provision is made in the Annex for an exclusion, qualification, or exception to, the relevant obligation imposed by the Annex which would be capable of constituting a defence to the charge, it shall be for the person charged to establish any such defence and it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that there is no such defence in the particular case.
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paragraphs: The provisions of these Regulations shall apply to sea-fishing boats specified in the Annex.
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paragraphs: The master of a sea-fishing boat or the agent shall give to a sea fisheries protection officer not less than 4 hours notice of his intention to make such landing. Notification can be in written form to the Killybegs office fax number: + 353 74 973 1819 or to the Killybegs office telephone number: + 353 74 973 1264. The notification must include such information as the sea fisheries protection officer may require, including:
• the name of the vessel;
• the port of landing;
• the estimated time of arrival at that port;
• the quantities in kilograms live weight by species retained on board; and
• contact details.
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paragraphs: (1) The ports designated for the purpose of the Annex are Killybegs, Rossaveal, Castletownbere, Dingle, Rathmullan. All landings into these ports, which are subject to the provisions of the Annex, must be weighed by means of weighbridges located in the ports.
(2)Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, the following provisions shall apply to horse mackerel landings in the period up to and including the 31st day of October 2004.
(a) For such landings of horse mackerel, the catch retained on board must consist of at least 90% horse mackerel.
(b) All such landings of horse mackerel must be landed into either the ports of Killybegs or Rathmullan.
(c) All such landings of horse mackerel must be discharged into trailer units of known carrying capacity as set out in (i) hereunder:
(i) All trailer units used to carry horse mackerel must have a pre-determined calibrated maximum carrying capacity as approved by the competent authority. Each trailer unit shall be uniquely identifiable and have a known maximum carrying capacity assigned to it.
(d) In all cases where trailer units are used to transport horse mackerel, as referenced in 7(2)(c)(i) of this Regulation, the buyer of the fish shall ensure that all trailer units used are primed before taking any fish with a combination of water and/or ice to a minimum of 40% of the known maximum carrying capacity of each trailer unit.
(e) Prior to taking any horse mackerel, the buyer of the fish shall ensure that all trailer units used are weighed at a weighbridge approved by the competent authority. Following confirmation by the competent authority that a minimum of 40% of the known maximum carrying capacity of each trailer unit used has been primed using a combination of water and/or ice, a seal will be applied to each trailer unit by the competent authority.
(f) Before any trailer unit may take any horse mackerel, the competent authority will ensure that all trailer units used are sealed and carry the minimum specified volume of water and/or ice for that trailer unit.
(g) The weight of horse mackerel landed shall be determined as 50% of the sum of the known calibrated maximum carrying capacities of all the trailer units used (rounded up to the nearest whole number).
(3) In all cases where the provisions set out in paragraph 2 are not met, the provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply.
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paragraphs: (1) The master of a sea-fishing boat, or the agent, shall provide all reasonable assistance to a sea fisheries protection officer to enable the quantities of herring, mackerel and horse mackerel declared in the respective logbook and the quantity of herring, mackerel and horse mackerel on board the respective sea-fishing boat to be cross-checked for verification purposes.
(2) In the event of mixed catches being recorded in the logbook, the master of a sea-fishing boat to which these Regulations apply shall provide to a sea fisheries protection officer, immediately upon arrival in port, a representative sample of the catch in accordance with the provisions of Council (EC) Regulation No. 954/87 of 1 April 1987.
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paragraphs: All buyers, transporters or their agents shall provide all reasonable assistance to a sea fisheries protection officer to enable the quantities of herring, mackerel and horse mackerel to be monitored in the manner required by these Regulations.
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paragraphs: In a prosecution for an infringement of these Regulations it shall be for the person charged to establish a defence by reference to any exclusion, qualification or exception to the relevant obligation provided for by these Regulations and it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that there is no such defence in this particular case.
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paragraphs: (1) A person who, by act or omission, contravenes any provision of the Annex or Regulation 6,7,8 or 9 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €3,000.
(2) An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister.
(3) Where an offence under these Regulations has been committed by a body corporate and it is proved to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any person who, when the offence was committed, was a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or a person purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if guilty of the first-mentioned offence.
(4) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (3) shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the functions of management as if such a member were a director or manager of the body corporate.
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paragraphs: The Sea Fisheries (Weighing Procedures for Herring, Mackerel and Horse Mackerel) (No. 2) Regulations 2004 ( S.I. No. 73 of 2004 ) are hereby revoked.