Sea Fisheries (Vessel Monitoring Systems) (Jersey) Regulations 201-, and Sea Fisheries (Log Books, Transhipment and Landing Declarations) (Jersey) Regulations 201- for approval by UK Secretary of State

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A decision made 4 June 2013:

Decision Reference: MD-E-2013-0051
Decision Summary Title :	Submission of draft Sea Fisheries Regulations for UK Secretary of State approval.			Date of Decision Summary:	21 May 2013
Decision Summary Author:	Assistant Director Marine Resources			Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (If Exempt state clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written			Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title:	Submission of draft Sea Fisheries Regulations for UK Secretary of State approval.			Date of Written Report:
Written Report Author:	Assistant Director Marine Resources			Written Report : Public or Exempt? (If Exempt State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public

Subject: Approval for forwarding to the UK Secretary of State draft legislation to implement relevant aspects of the European Council Regulations relating to the control of fishing activity.
Decision(s): The Minister approved that the draft Sea Fisheries (Vessel Monitoring Systems) (Jersey) Regulations 201- and the draft Sea Fisheries (Log Books, Transhipment and Landing Declarations) (Jersey) Regulations 201 - be transmitted to the UK Ministry of Justice for approval by the Secretary of State.
Reason(s) for decision: Under the terms of the Jersey/UK Fisheries Management Agreement the Island has agreed to introduce European Regulations in respect of fishing activity. These drafts are necessary to reflect changes in such measures. The gaining of approval by the UK Secretary of State is a legal requirement and an obligation under the UK/Jersey Fisheries Management Agreement, and must be in place before the draft regulations can be approved by the States.
Resource Implications: There are no financial or manpower resource implications associated with these draft Regulations.
Action required: The Greffe arranges for the Crown Officers to forward the two drafts through the official channels to the Ministry of Justice for Secretary of State approval.
Signature: Senator A.J.H. Maclean		Position: Minister for Economic Development
Date Signed:			Date of Decision:

Sea Fisheries (Vessel Monitoring Systems) (Jersey) Regulations 201-, and Sea Fisheries (Log Books, Transhipment and Landing Declarations) (Jersey) Regulations 201- for approval by UK Secretary of State

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Submission of draft Sea Fisheries Regulations for UK Secretary of State approval

Purpose of the Report

For the Minister to approve that the;

draft Sea Fisheries (Vessel Monitoring Systems) (Jersey) Regulations 201- and the draft

draft Sea Fisheries (Log Books,, Transhipment and Landing Declarations) (Jersey) Regulations 201 - be transmitted to the UK Ministry of Justice for approval by the Secretary of State

Background

Under the terms of the Jersey/UK Fisheries Management Agreement (FMA) Jersey is obliged to ensure that the rules and law relating to the regulation of fishing and the management and conservation of sea fish in the territorial sea are kept consistent with the requirements of the European Community.

In order to properly manage fishing effort and activity, in 1993 the EU introduced a set of regulations known as the Control Regulations. These regulations covered a range of measures relating to the administrative part of fisheries management including the requirement for vessel masters to maintain log books, electronic tracking of fishing vessels, the details required in fishing licences and similar related matters. Jersey introduced these measures, where applicable, in local fisheries regulations over a period of years.

In November 2009 the EU introduced a replacement set of Control Regulations (Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009) and these became active throughout the EU on 1st January 2010. In March 2011 the EU implemented a further regulation providing more specific implementation instructions.

The Island needs to introduce those elements of the two new EU Regulations that are required by the terms of the FMA. In March 2011 the Minister approved that law drafting work, for this purpose, should commence and the first two drafts are now complete.

The gaining of approval by the UK Secretary of State is a legal requirement and an obligation under the UK/Jersey Fisheries Management Agreement, and must be in place before the draft regulations can be approved by the States.

Details

The two EU Regulations amount to 251 pages of legislation, however the two drafts only contain those measures which are relevant to local circumstances. Essentially they directly replace two existing sets of Regulations relating to the provision of catch data and electronic surveillance of fishing vessel activity and make very few practical changes in respect of the majority of the Jersey fleet.

There are however a number of new requirements in respect of a small number of larger vessels in the Jersey fleet that have an overall length greater than 12 metres and French vessels above that size, although those larger vessels are already subject to these requirements when operating in French or British waters outside the Jersey territorial sea.

The new regulations will allow better control and monitoring of fishing effort and help ensure that the Island plays its part in the management of fish stocks at an international level.

The draft Sea Fisheries (Vessel Monitoring Systems) (Jersey) Regulations 201- have been subject to technical scrutiny by officers at the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and advice they have given has been incorporated into both drafts. It is however likely that a third draft regulation will be required to enact locally a small number of relevant EU Control regulations that have for practical and drafting purposes been omitted from these two drafts.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Minister approves that the draft Sea Fisheries (Vessel Monitoring Systems) (Jersey) Regulations 201- and the draft Sea Fisheries (Log Books, Transhipment and Landing Declarations) (Jersey) Regulations 201 - be transmitted to the UK Ministry of Justice for approval by the Secretary of State.

Written by:	Assistant Director Marine Resources

Approved by:

Ministerial Decision Case Ref: MD-E-2012-0051