Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 2nd July, 2019.

I, MICHAEL CREED, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 3 and 15 of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 (No. 8 of 2006) and the Sea Fisheries, Foreshore and Dumping at Sea (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2007 ( S.I. No. 707 of 2007 ) (as adapted by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011 ( S.I. No. 455 of 2011 )), hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Crawfish (Conservation of Stocks) Regulations 2019.

2. These Regulations come into operation on 1 July 2019.

3. In these Regulations—

“flap” means any part of the five flaps of the tail fan of a crawfish including the telson with anus and left and right uropod each uropod containing two flaps;

“carapace” means the hard shell covering the cephalothorax of a crawfish;

“crawfish” means Palinurus spp.;

“mutilated crawfish” means a crawfish which has been mutilated in such a manner which could hide or obliterate a V notch;

“sell” includes offer, expose or keep for sale, invite an offer to buy, or distribute for reward;

“V notch” means a marking in the shape of the letter “V” cut for the purposes of identification of particular crawfish into one or more of the five flaps of the tail fan or at the posterior edge of the carapace of any crawfish, with the apex of the V positioned inwards from the edge of the flap or the edge of the carapace;

“V notched crawfish” means a crawfish bearing a V notch.

4. These Regulations apply to—

(1) V notched crawfish, and

(2) mutilated crawfish,

taken by an Irish sea-fishing boat.

5. (1) The master or person in charge of an Irish sea-fishing boat shall not cause or permit a crawfish to which these regulations apply to be retained on board the sea-fishing boat.

(2) The master or person in charge of an Irish sea-fishing boat shall not cause or permit any person on board to retain a crawfish to which these Regulations apply on board the sea-fishing boat.

6. The master or person in charge of an Irish sea-fishing boat shall not cause or permit the boat to be used for the landing or transhipment of a crawfish to which these Regulations apply.

7. The master or person in charge of an Irish sea-fishing boat shall cause a crawfish to which these Regulations apply, taken by the Irish sea-fishing boat, to be carefully handled and returned alive to the sea without delay.

8. A person shall not buy, handle, tranship, transport, land, process, store or sell a crawfish taken by an Irish sea-fishing boat to which these Regulations apply.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

27 June 2019.

MICHAEL CREED

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation).

The effect of these Regulations is to impose a conservation measure whereby all crawfish containing a V notch are returned to the sea.