Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

Fishing without a licence must be regarded as a particularly serious offence and the level of fine proposed in the Bill reflects this severity.

To avoid unnecessary Circuit Court proceedings, section 28 also provides, on standard lines, for summary conviction by the District Court for minor offences, subject to a fine not exceeding €5,000, which reflects the current limit of jurisdiction of the District Court.

Section 28 maintains the long-standing status quo from 1978 on forfeitures by providing for forfeitures of fish and fishing gear as a statutory consequence of conviction on indictment, while section 29 simply reflects the existing provision, dating from 1994, for the forfeiture of boats also, if the court so orders when the circumstances so warrant. The levels of forfeiture that apply to indictable offences have been on the Statute Book for decades and are regarded as a considerable deterrent and set a proportionate penalty.

Changes in forfeitures for indictable offences would create considerable problems for defendants and the prosecution in sea fisheries cases. Most arrests involve a number of infringementsand charges and a system where only illegal fish or fish gear were to be forfeited could involve lengthy disputes about each count. It is the experience that the courts keep in view the value of forfeiture when fixing fines and fines are often at the lower end of the scale because the value of the catch and gear has been forfeited.

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