TORRES STRAIT FISHERIES ACT 1984 - SECT 46A Commercial fishing by foreign boat in territorial sea within an area of Australian jurisdiction--general

TORRES STRAIT FISHERIES ACT 1984 - SECT 46A

  (1)   A person commits an offence if:

  (a)   the person engages in taking fish on a boat; and

  (b)   the boat is a foreign boat; and

  (c)   the fish are taken in the course of commercial fishing; and

  (d)   the boat is at a place that is, at the time the person engages in taking the fish, in a part of the territorial sea of Australia that is in an area of Australian jurisdiction.

Penalty:

  (a)   if the offender was the master of the boat at the time the offence was committed--2,500 penalty units or 3 years imprisonment, or both; or

  (b)   in any other case--500 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment, or both.

  (1A)   Strict liability applies to paragraph   ( 1)(d).

Note:   For strict liability , see section   6.1 of the Criminal Code .

  (2)   The reference to an area of Australian jurisdiction in paragraph   ( 1)(d) does not include a reference to Protected Zone coastal waters of Queensland .

Note:   For what are Protected Zone coastal waters of Queensland , see section   4.

  (3)   Subsection   ( 1) does not apply if:

  (a)   the fishing is community fishing; or

  (b)   a licence under subsection   19(2) is in force authorising the use of the boat; or

  (c)   a Treaty endorsement is in force authorising the use of the boat for taking fish.

Note:   The defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection   ( 3). See subsection   13.3(3) of the Criminal Code .