Fishing Vessels (Amendment) Regulations, 2021

L.N. 305 of 2021

FISHERIES CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ACT

(CAP. 425)

Fishing Vessels (Amendment) Regulations, 2021

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 38 of the

Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, the Minister for

Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Animal Rights, has made the

following regulations:-

The title of these regulations is Fishing Vessels

(Amendment) Regulations, 2021 and these regulations shall be read

and construed as one with the Fishing Vessels Regulations, hereinafter

referred to as "the principal regulations".

Regulation 9 of the principal regulations, shall be

substituted by the following new regulation

"9. (1) If a fishing vessel of Category A or B does not

register a catch and sale of fish of value as shown in Schedule

III, such vessel shall be recorded in a temporary register where it

may remain visible for three (3) years, in which period it shall

restart its commercial fishing activity totally or shall otherwise

continue to work on a low scale and shall therefore be included

in Category C of regulation 8.

(2) A vessel losing its registration in Category A or B of

Schedule III and included in Category C of regulation 8

according to sub-regulation (1) shall pay two-thousand, six

hundred and eighty-three euro and thirty cents of a euro

(€2,683.30) in order to regain its right of registration in the

categories for commercial fishing

Provided that, the right provided according to this

sub-regulation shall not apply for fishing vessels who have been

included in Category C of regulation 8 for a period of five (5)

years or more following the application of sub-regulation (1).".

Immediately

after

regulation

of

the

principal

regulations, there shall be added the following new regulation

(1) Local fishing vessels as licensed

according to the Act shall be so licensed and shall

operate in accordance with their gross tonnage, and the

provisions of this regulation shall apply in case of

discrepancies between the registered gross tonnage

and the gross tonnage as verified by the Director.

(2) Without prejudice to any other right,

obligation and power of the Director or of anyone else,

and without prejudice to sub-regulations (4) and (5),

the Director may change the amount of gross tonnage

as registered for a local fishing vessel when this is

reasonable according to the circumstances of the case

and upon an application by the owner or operator of

the vessel, in any one (1) of the following

circumstances

(a) when, following verification by the

Director, the resulting discrepancy between the

registered gross tonnage and the verified gross

tonnage is less than one (1) gross tonne, and when

the Director deems that said discrepancy is due to

an error made in good faith by whosoever it may

be, the Director may correct the registered gross

tonnage so that it coincides with the verified gross

tonnage; or

(b) when, following verification by the

Director, and whatever the discrepancy between

the registered gross tonnage and the verified gross

tonnage may be, and if the Director deems that

said discrepancy is not due to any fault of the

applicant and that the required adjustment is not

to the detriment of the local fishing vessel fleet

and to the administration of fisheries according to

the Act, the Director may change the registered

gross tonnage so that it coincides with the verified

gross tonnage.

(3) In case an owner or operator of a registered

local fishing vessel applies with the Director to cancel

the registration of a local fishing vessel and

concurrently with the same cancellation also applies

according to paragraphs (a) or (b), the Director may do

the following

(a) instead of two (2) or more registered

local fishing vessels, he may permit the

registration of one (1) local fishing vessel if its

gross tonnage does not exceed by more than one

(1) gross tonne of the sum of the gross tonnage of

the local fishing vessels that were registered

instead of that vessel;

(b) in cases in which the applicant

requests the de-registration of a local fishing

vessel and in lieu thereof does not request the

registration of any vessel or requests the

registration of one (1) or more vessels the total

gross tonnage of which is less than that of the de-

registered vessel, the Director may, upon a

request made concurrently with the request for

de-registration, allow the applicant to use that

gross tonnage or the resulting discrepancy in a

manner that is compliant with these regulations

and the applicant shall be obliged to do so within

two (2) years from the date of said de-

registration

Provided that, in the circumstances

provided under paragraph (b) and when the

applicant does not make the use therein referred

within the said two (2) years, the applicant shall

lose all rights as granted by the same paragraph.

(4) All changes requested according to

paragraph (b) of sub-regulation (2) are subject to the

payment of eight hundred euro (€800) for each gross

tonne or part thereof, and no change may take effect

before the payment of the relevant amounts.

(5) The Director may not give effect to any

change as provided by sub-regulations (2) or (3) if the

registered gross tonnage of the entire local fishing

vessel fleet exceeds seventy-five per cent (75%) of the

amount equivalent to the maximum limit of the fishing

capacity set for Malta according to Regulation (EU) No

1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common

Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC)

No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing

Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No

639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC as in

force from time to time or according to any other

European Union legislation which substitutes its

provisions as relating to the maximum limit of the

fishing capacity.

(6) Without prejudice to sub-regulations (2) to

(5), the changes referred in this regulation may be made

both by decreasing or increasing the registered gross

tonnage of a local fishing vessel.

(7) Whenever this regulation refers to gross

tonnage, the Director may, if he so deems it fair

according to the circumstances of a case, apply the

same provisions mutatis mutandis for engine power.

(8) Without prejudice to the provisions of this

regulation, gross tonnage and engine power taken out of

the fishing capacity of Malta shall not be subject to

being or becoming the property of any person, and no

provision of this regulation may be interpreted as

giving any right upon any registration of gross tonnage

and, or engine power, or on an amount of gross tonnage

and, or engine power.

(9) For the purposes of this regulation, gross

tonnage and engine power shall be measured according

to the law of the European Union as applicable to

fishing vessels.

(10) Nothing in this regulation or done according

to this regulation shall be construed as affecting any

obligation or responsibility according to law, be it civil,

administrative and, or criminal according to the

circumstances, and anything done according to this

regulation is without prejudice to the same.".

4. With reference to regulation 2 of these regulations which

substitutes regulation 9 of the principal regulations, anything done or

to be done according to the provisions of regulation 9 of the principal

regulations, before the entry into force of these regulations, shall

remain unaffected by this regulation and shall continue to apply

accordingly

Provided that, according to regulation 9 of the principal

regulations any period accrued by the time of the coming into force of

these regulations, as regards fishing vessels included under Category C

of regulation 8 of the principal regulations, shall be considered

included in the calculation of the time period referred in the proviso of

sub-regulation (2) of regulation 9 of the principal regulations as

substituted by these regulations.

€0.45