Fisheries Management Act 1994

A fisheries officer may, either orally or by notice in writing, require a person to do one or more of the following—

to produce, immediately or within a specified period and at a specified place, records under the control of the person relating to—

commercial fishing activities, or

the receipt, possession or disposal of fish in connection with carrying on a business, or

financial transactions of a specified person whom the officer has reason to believe is engaged in commercial fishing activities or has received, possessed or disposed of fish in the course of carrying on a business,

if any such records are not in the English language—to produce, within a specified period and at a specified place, a statement in writing in the English language setting out particulars of those records,

to answer any question that the person is able to answer relating to—

any such records under the person’s control, or

any activity, business or financial transaction referred to in paragraph (a), or

any statement produced in accordance with paragraph (b).

A fisheries officer may—

make copies of any records or statements produced in accordance with this section, and

for the purpose of making copies of those records or statements, take away and retain them for such period as may be reasonably necessary, and

if the officer has reason to believe that those records or statements are evidence of an offence against this Act or the regulations, take away and retain them until proceedings for the offence have been heard and determined.

If a fisheries officer requires a person to answer a question under subsection (1)(c), the officer may specify one or more of the following—

that the answer be given either orally or in writing,

that the answer be given immediately, at a specified time or within a specified period,

that the answer be given at a specified place,

that the answer be given by audio link or audio visual link.

Before taking away records or statements, a fisheries officer must tender a receipt to the person from whose custody they are taken. The fisheries officer must give that person access to the documents during ordinary business hours.

A person who fails to comply with a requirement of a fisheries officer made under this section is guilty of an offence.

In this section—

(Repealed)