TORRES STRAIT FISHERIES ACT 1984 - SECT 51A Having foreign boat equipped for fishing in territorial sea within an area of Australian jurisdiction

TORRES STRAIT FISHERIES ACT 1984 - SECT 51A

  (1)   A person commits an offence if:

  (a)   the person has a boat in his or her possession, or under his or her control; and

  (b)   the boat is a foreign boat; and

  (c)   the boat is equipped for taking fish; and

  (d)   the boat is at a place that is 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)   It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection   ( 1) if the person charged proves that, at the time of the alleged offence:

  (a)   the boat's equipment for taking fish was stowed; and

  (b)   the boat was travelling through an area of Australian jurisdiction from a point outside an area of Australian jurisdiction to another point outside an area of Australian jurisdiction by the shortest practicable route.

Note:   The defendant bears a legal burden in relation to the matters in subsection   ( 2). See section   13.4 of the Criminal Code .

  (2A)   For the purposes of paragraph   ( 2)(a), a boat's equipment for taking fish is not stowed unless all of the boat's:

  (a)   nets, traps and other fishing equipment; and

  (b)   associated equipment, including buoys and beacons;

are disengaged and secured, and where practicable stored inside the boat, in such a manner as not to be readily available for fishing.

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

  (a)   a licence under section   19 is in force in respect of the boat; or

  (b)   a Treaty endorsement is in force in respect of the boat; or

  (c)   the boat is being used for traditional fishing or community fishing.

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

  (4)   A reference to an area of Australian jurisdiction in this section 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.