Enforcement actions taken against fishing vessels (FOI)Enforcement actions taken against fishing vessels (FOI)
Produced by the Freedom of Information officeAuthored by Government of Jersey and published on
23 August 2021.Prepared internally, no external costs.
Request
On 18 May, a Granville-based vessel, the Alizé III, was caught operating in an area which it was prohibited from working in.
In early July, it was revealed that the skipper of the vessel in question had been 'sanctioned' following the breach. However, despite repeated requests to the government, no details on what the sanction consisted of have been revealed.
A
Please can you tell me the exact details of the sanction? What did it consist of?
B
Was the sanction a financial penalty? If so, what value did this amount to?
C
Besides the Alizé III, has enforcement action been taken against any other fishing vessels by Jersey authorities in the last five years? If so, please provide the following;
(a) name of the vessel involved
(b) date of the alleged infraction
(c) details and reason for the infraction
(d) the penalty levied if there was one and
(e) any charges brought for each specific case.
D
Please can you provide figures to illustrate, up until 27 July, how many patrols at sea have been carried out by fisheries officers since the beginning of the year?
E
Please provide (a) the total cost for the recent refit of the Norman Le Brocq vessel and (b) the total cost of the Fishery and Marine Resource Unit's new RIB.
Response
A and B
The information you have requested is exempt from release under Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 because it is classed as personal information.
C
There have been 134 enforcements actions carried out against individuals for the last five years between 27 July 2016 to 27 July 2021, which are linked with specific fishing vessels which relate to the owners, crew, and fishers.
The following table includes the number and types of enforcements actioned each year. We are unable to provide any further details regarding these enforcements since this information if exempt under Article 25 (Personal Information).
Year | Number of enforcements | Type of breach in period |
|---|
2016 | 10 | Undersize catch Breach of licence conditions Parlour pot specifications Unauthorised fishing within Jersey’s three-mile limit Catch logbook not submitted or incomplete Shucking scallops whilst at sea |
|---|
| 2017 | 20 | Breach of licence conditions Unauthorised fishing within Jersey’s three-mile limit Unmarked gear Vessel operating without AIS & VMS Catch included or in excess of permitted amount of restricted / closed species Undersize catch Current Granville Bay access permit not on vessel Catch logbook not submitted or incomplete Shucking scallops whilst at sea |
| 2018 | 32 | Fishing without a Granville Bay access permit Unauthorised fishing within Jersey’s three-mile limit Catch included or in excess of permitted amount of restricted / closed species Breach of licence conditions Parlour pot specifications Vessel operating without AIS & VMS Undeclared catch Undersize catch Catch logbook not submitted or incomplete Unauthorised use of lobster / parlour pots Landed shellfish without a licence Ormering out of season |
| 2019 | 31 | Undersize catch Nets too close to shore Catch logbook not submitted or incomplete Parlour pot specifications Fishing / trawling in zone without a permit Pot tag conditions Unmarked gear / pots Catch included or in excess of permitted amount of restricted / closed species Unauthorised use of lobster / parlour pots Unauthorised fishing within Jersey’s three-mile limit Shucking scallops whilst at sea |
| 2020 | 29 | Parlour pot specifications Vessel operating without AIS & VMS Current Granville Bay permit not on vessel Scallop diving without permit Undersize catch Nets too close to shore Pot tag specifications Unmarked gear Catch included or in excess of permitted amount of restricted / closed species Catch logbook not submitted or incomplete Unauthorised fishing within Jersey’s three-mile limit Use of net mesh under 100mm |
| 2021 (up to 27 July) | 12 | Catch logbook not submitted or incomplete Fishing in a restricted zone Undersize catch Parlour pot specifications Catch included or in excess of permitted amount of restricted / closed species Fishing / trawling in zone without a permit Un-licenced fishing |
Total | 134 | |
The enforcements were processed by the following parties with various sanctions being imposed such as verbal and written cautions, fines, and the issue of probation notices against licences depending on the seriousness of the breach.
Marine Resources
Parish Hall
Magistrates Court
D
The following table details the sea patrols carried out by Marine Resources during the period requested.
Sea patrols carried out 1 January to 27 July 2021 |
Vessel | Number of Patrols | Total hours at sea |
| Fishing patrol vessel – Norman le Brocq (NLB) | 23 | 116 |
| Marine Resources RIB – Écréhou | 23 | 64 |
| Total | 46 | 180 |
The NLB was in the UK for refit work between the following dates, therefore, the Écréhou was the only operational vessel available to Marine Resources officers during these periods.
1 Jan to 10 April 2021
24 May to 2 June 2021
E
The cost of the 2021 NLB refit is £355,200.64 to date, however, further work is required which is estimated to cost approximately £50 to £60,000.
The new Marine Resources RIB cost £81,957.
Article applied
Article 25 - Personal information
(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005.
(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –
(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018[7]; and
(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.[8]
(3) In determining for the purposes of this Article whether the lawfulness principle in Article 8(1)(a) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018[9] would be contravened by the disclosure of information, paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to that Law (legitimate interests) is to be read as if sub-paragraph (b) (which disapplies the provision where the controller is a public authority) were omitted.[10]
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