Sea Fishing (Restriction on Days at Sea) (Scotland) Order 2003 (S.S.I. No. 56 of 2003).

This Order provides for the enforcement in Scotland of the provisions of Annex XVII to Council Regulation 2341/2002 fixing for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks the fishing opportunities in Community waters for 2003. The Order contains provisions relating to the calculation of the number of days on which a vessel may be absent from port for the purposes of the Annex and makes clear, in particular in relation to the types of gear at paragraph 4(a) of the Annex, that the number of fishing days available cannot exceed the total calculated under paragraph 6 of the Annex (article 3(8)). By virtue of article 8(2), the ports named in the Schedule are designated, for the purposes of paragraph 14 of the Annex. The Order creates offences in respect of contraventions, by a person in charge of a relevant British fishing boat. For the purposes of enforcing provisions of the Annex the Order confers on British sea-fishery officers the powers to enter premises, to go on board fishing boats, to stop and search vehicles transporting fish, to examine fish, to require the production of documents, to search for and seize documents, to take a boat to the nearest convenient port and to seize fish and fishing gear. (20 articles and a Schedule)