FISHERIES ACT 1994 - SECT 154 Seizure of fisheries resources in heap etc.

FISHERIES ACT 1994 - SECT 154

154 Seizure of fisheries resources in heap etc.

(1) In this section—


"declared fisheries resources" means fisheries resources declared under a regulation to be fisheries resources to which this section applies.


"forfeiture offence" means an offence against this Act declared under a regulation to be an offence to which this section applies.


"threshold percentage" for declared fisheries resources means the percentage (which may be nil) prescribed by regulation for the fisheries resources.

(2) This section applies if—

(a) particular declared fisheries resources (the
"suspect fisheries resources" ) are part of declared fisheries resources in a heap, collection or container; and

(b) an inspector believes, on reasonable grounds, that—

(i) a forfeiture offence has been committed in relation to the suspect fisheries resources; and

(ii) the weight or number of the suspect fisheries resources expressed as a percentage of the total weight or number of the declared fisheries resources in the heap, collection or container is more than the threshold percentage for the fisheries resources.

Examples of heap, collection or container—

1 a freezer on a boat stocked with a large quantity of frozen scallops

2 fish in a processing establishment where, because of the quantity of the fish, it is impracticable to count the fish of a particular species or type

Examples of the ways an inspector may form a belief on reasonable grounds—

a statistical test or random sampling of the declared fisheries resources in the heap, collection or container

(3) The inspector may seize all the fisheries resources in the heap, collection or container and, if the fisheries resources are in a container, the container.

(4) If a person is later convicted of a forfeiture offence in relation to the suspect fisheries resources, then, for the purposes of the forfeiture of the fisheries resources in the heap, collection or container, all of those fisheries resources are taken to be fisheries resources the subject of the offence.