The principal purposes of this Act are: to transfer sea-fishing boat licensing functions from the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, to restate with amendments section 222B of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959 as amended, and to provide enabling power to the Minister to charge fees for sea-fishing licence and other applications, licences, etc. (Part 2), to establish an independent statutory appeals process for seafishing boat licensing, so as to give effect to a commitment in the current Programme for Government (Part 3 with Schedule 1), to give effect to the United Nations Agreement on the implementation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks (Part 4 with Schedule 2, which contains the text of that Agreement, and Schedule 3, which lists highly migratory fish species for protection), and to provide enabling power to the Minister to charge foreshore application and other fees (Part 5).
As the licensing authority in relation to sea-fishing boats is appointed the Registrar General of Fishing Boats. The licensing authority shall be independent in the exercise of his or her functions but the Minister may give policy directions. The licensing authority may attach conditions to the licence.. Part IV concerns the implementation of the United Nations Agreement on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention relating to the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks of 1995. The Minister for Foreign Affairs may by Order declare that any State specified in the order is a Party State. Such Order shall be prima facie evidence that any State specified in the Order is a Party State (sect. 23). The Minister may by Order declare that an area of the high seas is a conservation area for straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks covered by a sub-regional or regional fisheries management organization or arrangement for the purposes of Part III of the Agreement. Again, such Order shall be prima facie evidence that the area of the high seas mentioned in the Order is a conservation area. The Minister may by Regulations ("conservation regulations") make provision to give effect to any provision either of the treaties or of any act adopted by an institution of the European Communities which authorises Member States to prohibit, or otherwise regulate in a manner specified in the provision, fishing of straddling fish stocks or highly migratory fish stocks with respect to specified fishing boats. Section 27 prescribes duties of a master of area fishing boat in a conservation area. Other provisions of Part IV concern measures and powers of enforcement. The Foreshore Act is amended by section 32 with respect to application and other fees.