{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/british-fishing-boats-order-1983/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/british-fishing-boats-order-1983/note.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/1983/482",
  "legislation_title": "The British Fishing Boats Order 1983",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/british-fishing-boats-order-1983",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "This order—\n(a)specifies, for the purposes of section 1(2)(a) and (b) of the British Fishing Boats Act 1983 (“the Act”), an area consisting of all waters within British fishery limits in which a British fishing boat may not carry out the operations of fishing for and trans-shipping sea fish unless the boat is qualified in accordance with article 4 of the order for use in carrying out those operations (article 3);\n(b)provides that a British fishing boat shall be qualified for use in carrying out the operations of fishing for and trans-shipping sea fish in the area specified in article 3 of the order and landing sea fish in the United Kingdom (wherever caught), if at least 75% of the members of the crew of the boat are British citizens or nationals of any other member State (article 4);\n(c)specifies the manner in which the fishing gear of a British fishing boat must be stowed when it is in the area specified in article 3 of the order but is not qualified in accordance with article 4 of the order for use in carrying out the operations of fishing for and trans-shipping sea fish in that area (article 5).\nIt is an offence under section 1 of the Act to carry out the operations referred to above by or from a British fishing boat unless the boat is qualified in accordance with article 4 of this order for use in carrying out those operations.\nWhere a British fishing boat is in the area specified in article 3 of this order but is not for the time being qualified in accordance with article 4 of this order for use in carrying out such operations, an offence is committed under section 1 of the Act if its fishing gear is not stowed in accordance with article 5 of this order.\nThe maximum penalty for a contravention of section 1 of the Act is £50,000 on summary conviction or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment. The court may also order the forfeiture of fish and fishing gear.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1983/482/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T18:04:08.428077+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}