Wildlife and Fisheries offences (FOI)

Request

Please can I request information on how many offences have been recorded under both the Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000 and the Sea Fisheries (Jersey) Law 1994 including regulations and any law updates?

Please can this cover the years 2017, 2018 and 2019, how many recorded offences were successfully prosecuted and the outcome? Please can the response also indicate what resources are dedicated to enforcing each law and whether the States of Jersey Police receive training on the Wildlife Law and submit data to the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit?

Response

States of Jersey Police:

Enforcement of the above Jersey laws is mainly in the remit of the Environment and Marine resources departments however, figures for the prosecution of offences are also held by police. The below table show the number of offences prosecuted. Offences under the Sea fisheries (Jersey) Law 1994 are split between undersize catches or Licensing offences, eg commercial fishing without a licence. Penalties for retaining undersize fish / shellfish range from written cautions at parish hall, to fines ranging from £150 to £500. Other offences include, retaining too many ormers, failing to mark pots or have the correct pots (With escape port for smaller lobsters). Punishment for licencing offences ranged from Parish Hall cautions to fines and probation orders.

Police officers receive training in the core police duties however this does not cover the above legislation. Any officer dealing or assisting with an investigation into such matters will receive supervision from a sergeant and may receive assistance from officers from the Animal shelter, the JSPCA, the States Vet or Environmental health.

Jersey is not part of the UK and is not a member of the UK National wildlife crime unit.

Legislation and updates can be found on the Jersey Law website. Use the search function for each piece of legislation.

Jersey Legal Information Board

Natural Environment Team:

The total number of cases of potential offences under the Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000 that were brought to our attention during the period 2017 to 2019 inclusive, was 30.

Reported offences during this period included the alleged disturbance of nesting birds and marine mammals on Jersey’s shores, and on the Ecréhous, through leisure activities such as tourist boats, jet skis and drone users. The unauthorised disturbance of or removal of nests or dens of birds and other protected wildlife (such as squirrels) as a result of tree works carried out during the breeding season, is also regularly reported to the department. A further five cases during the period 2017 and 2019 inclusive have been in relation to the unauthorised removal of bat roosts from buildings, through roof repair works or loft conversions.

Successful prosecutions under the Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000 were hindered primarily by difficulties in obtaining sufficient evidence after the incident to prove that an offence had taken place.

Marine Resources Team:

The Marine resources team publish yearly inspection and prosecution figures in the MR Annual Report which is available online (2019 has not been released yet).

The figures for 2017 to 2019 as taken from the reports are below. All offences resulted in a sanction which range from an official warning letter (usually minor first-time offences) to court imposed fines.

Annual Report 2017 (available online: page 30): 25 offences from 530 inspections / checks.

Annual report 2018 (available online: page 39): 39 offences from 485 inspections / checks.

Annual Report 2019 (not released yet): 52 offences from 384 inspections / checks (the 384 figure is provisional as we are still compiling the list of inspections / checks).

Links to Marine Resources reports are below - all years obtainable by typing ‘Marine resources annual report’ into Gov.je; alternatively the relevant links are provided below:

Marine Resources Annual Report 2017

Marine Resources Annual Report 2018

The 2019 report will be available in August 2020