S.I. No. 98 of 2006

Monkfish (Fisheries Management and Conservation) (No. 4) Regulations 2006

I, John Browne, Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 224B (inserted by section 5 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 Marine and Natural Resources (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 307 of 2002 ) and the Marine (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2006 (No. 82 of 2006)), hereby make the following regulations:

1.           These Regulations may be cited as the Monkfish (Fisheries Management and Conservation) (No. 4) Regulations 2006.

2.           These Regulations come into operation on 1 March 2006 and cease to have effect on 31 March 2006.

3.           In these Regulations -

-�ICES-� means the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea;

-�Irish sea-fishing boat-� means a boat that is entered in the Register of Fishing Boats but which has not been granted a monkfish licence under the Monkfish Licensing Regulations 2005 ( S.I. No. 239 of 2005 );

-�monkfish-� or -�anglerfish-� means fish belonging to the family Lophiidae;

-�quotas-� means the State's share of the total allowable catch (TAC) fixed by the Council of the European Communities relating to certain species of fish in respect of the year 2006¹ or, as the case may be, each subsequent year thereafter;

-�specified area-� means waters falling within ICES sub-area VII and stock area code ANF/07 as described in Communication (85/C347/05) from the Commission of the European Communities on the description of the ICES sub-areas and divisions used for the purposes of fishing statistics and regulations in the North East Atlantic;

-�specified period-� means the period from 1 March 2006 to 31 March 2006.

4.     An Irish sea-fishing boat, or a person on board that boat, fishing in the specified area, shall not, during the specified period, have or retain on board -

(a)          in case the boat is of length greater than or equal to 55 feet, 5 tonnes of monkfish, or

(b)          in any other case, 2.5 tonnes of monkfish,

nor land more than that quantity.

5.     In a prosecution for an offence contravening Regulation 4 of these Regulations it shall be a defence for the defendant to show that the monkfish to which the prosecution relates were taken outside the specified area or the specified period.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation)

These Regulations provide for a management regime for the monkfish fishery in ICES Area VII with effect from 1 March 2006.

From that date, an Irish sea-fishing boat equal to or greater than 55 feet in length, which has not been granted a monkfish licence, or a person on board such boat, fishing in the specified area may not have or retain on board or land more than 5 tonnes of monkfish during the period from 1 March 2006 to 31 March 2006.

Any other Irish sea-fishing boat fishing for monkfish, which has not been granted a monkfish licence, or a person on board such boat, fishing in the specified area may not have or retain on board or land more than 2.5 tonnes of monkfish during this period.

It is prohibited to tranship or to engage in transhipment operations of monkfish.

¹ Council Regulation (EC) No. 51/2006, O.J. L16, 20.1.2006, pp. 1-183.