# Shrimp Fishing Nets Order (Northern Ireland) 2005, Article 3: Prohibition on fishing for shrimps without a separator trawl or sorting grid

Extent: N.I.

A Northern Ireland fishing boat shall not carry or deploy a net, whose mesh measures between 16 and 31 millimetres unless –
(a) netting, the mesh of which measures at least twice that of the codend and no more than 70 millimetres, is fitted across the entire cross-section of the net in such a way that –
(i) sea fish cannot reach the codend without first passing through the netting; and
(ii) there is a hole in the net through which all sea fish that do not pass through the netting are able to escape;
(b) a rigid grid, the spacing between the bars of which is no more than 20 millimetres is fitted across the entire cross-section of the net in such a way that –
(i) sea fish cannot reach the codend without first passing through the grid; and
(ii) there is a hole in the net through which all sea fish that do not pass through the grid are able to escape;
(c) no sea fish have been retained on board the boat; or
(d) where sea fish have been caught, the total catch retained on board should comprise of no more than 5% of live weight of common shrimps (Crangon spp), Aesop shrimps (Pandalus montagui) or a combination of the two.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2005/349/article/3 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/shrimp-fishing-nets-order-northern-ireland-2005/article-3
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.

