The Fishing Vessels (Decommissioning) Scheme 1993

• Citation: S.I. 1993/1345
• Sections: 14

Section 1 Title and commencement

This Scheme may be cited as the Fishing Vessels (Decommissioning) Scheme 1993 and shall come into force on 27th May 1993.

Section 2 Interpretation

(1) In this Scheme, unless the context otherwise requires—

“capacity units”, in relation to a vessel, means—

where:

L is the length of the vessel expressed in metres,

B is the breadth of the vessel expressed in metres, and

P is the engine power of the vessel expressed in kilowatts;

“the Council Regulation” means Council Regulation ( EEC ) No. 2930/86 defining characteristics for fishing vessels ;

“decommissioning”, in relation to a vessel, means the permanent withdrawal of that vessel from operation within the sea fish industry by means of scrapping and references to “decommissioning grant” shall be construed accordingly;

“length”, in relation to a vessel, except in the case of paragraphs 3(1)(f) and 7(3), means the length calculated in accordance with the rules specified in Article 2(1) of the Council Regulation;

“licence” means one or more licences granted in respect of a vessel under section 4 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967 ;

“the Ministers” means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretaries of State respectively concerned with the sea fish industry in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland;

“the register” means the register of fishing vessels established under section 13 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 and references to “registered” shall be construed accordingly;

“scrapping”, in relation to a vessel, means permanently breaking up the vessel, or otherwise permanently disabling it, so that it is incapable of use for any seagoing purpose.

(2) Any reference in this Scheme to a numbered paragraph shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as a reference to the paragraph bearing that number in this Scheme.

(3) Any payment of grant made under this Scheme by the Ministers may be made by any of them and any reference in the Scheme to such payment shall be construed accordingly.

Section 3 Eligibility for decommissioning grant

(1) Any person who owns a registered fishing vessel—

(a) which was acquired by him before 27th February 1992,

(b) which is over 10 metres in length,

(c) in respect of which there is a current licence which authorises the taking of fish of such descriptions as are not less extensive than the descriptions of fish that were authorised by any previous licence which applied in respect of the vessel on 27th February 1992,

(d) which has spent at least 100 days at sea on fishing trips during each of the calendar years 1991 and 1992,

(e) which is at least 10 years old at the date of the application, and

(f) which, in the case of a vessel over 12 metres in length had, on 1st April 1993, a valid fishing vessel certificate under the provisions of the Fishing Vessels (Safety Provisions) Rules 1975 , or, in the case of any other vessel, in the opinion of the Ministers is fit for undertaking sea fishing trips without the need for major repairs or alterations,

is eligible for a decommissioning grant.

(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(d) above—

(a) a “day” means all or any part of a period of 24 consecutive hours beginning at midnight,

(b) time spent steaming between port and fishing ground and between one fishing ground and another shall be included in the calculation of days spent at sea.

(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(f) above, “length” in relation to a vessel means its registered length.

Section 4 Application for decommissioning grant

(1) The Ministers shall publish in such manner as they consider appropriate a notice inviting applications for grant under this Scheme and specifying the closing date for such applications.

(2) An application made in pursuance of a notice under sub-paragraph (1) above shall be in writing in such form and manner and with such information and documentation as the Ministers may require and shall be delivered to such address as they may direct.

(3) No more than one application in pursuance of a notice under sub-paragraph (1) above may be made in respect of a vessel.

(4) The foregoing provisions of this paragraph shall apply in respect of any subsequent notices inviting applications for grant under this Scheme.

(5) If an application for grant under this Scheme has been approved in respect of a vessel, no further application in respect of that vessel may be made under this Scheme.

Section 5 Application for decommissioning grant

An application for grant under this Scheme shall include a bid stating the amount of grant for which the applicant offers to scrap the vessel.

Section 6 Consideration of applications

(1) As soon as reasonably practicable after the date specified in a notice under paragraph 4(1) as the closing date for applications the Ministers shall—

(a) identify those applications made in pursuance of that notice which satisfy the foregoing provisions of this Scheme,

(b) divide the bid included in each such application by the number of capacity units of the vessel concerned, and

(c) place each such application in rank according to the result of the calculation referred to in paragraph (b) above.

(2) The Ministers may reject any such application for grant under this Scheme if they consider the amount of the bid in the application to be unreasonable, having regard to—

(a) the extent to which approval of the application would contribute towards the objectives of the United Kingdom’s multiannual guidance programme for its fishing fleet pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No. 4028/86 on Community measures to improve and adapt structures in the fisheries and aquaculture sector , as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3944/90 , Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2794/92 and Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3946/92 , and as approved in Commission Decision 92/593/EEC ;

(b) the amount of money allocated for this Scheme.

(3) The Ministers shall reject any application for grant under this Scheme if they have reasonable grounds for suspecting that there has been any fixing or adjustment of the amount of a bid by or under or in accordance with any agreement (whether legally binding or not) or arrangement with another person.

(4) Subject to sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) above, the Ministers shall approve applications by proceeding through the rank referred to in sub-paragraph (1)(c) above from the application incorporating the lowest amount bid per capacity unit towards the application incorporating the highest amount bid per capacity unit until the maximum amount of money allocated for the Scheme is reached.

(5) Where as a result of the procedure referred to in sub-paragraph (4) above there are two or more identical bids per capacity unit which are higher than the amount of any other bid which has been approved, and there is insufficient money to meet all of them, in deciding which bid or bids to accept the Ministers may take into account the amount of time spent at sea on fishing trips by each of the vessels concerned during the calendar years 1991 and 1992 with a view to giving preference to vessels that spent more time at sea in those years.

Section 7 Approval of applications

(1) The Ministers shall notify each applicant in writing of the result of his application.

(2) Applicants whose bids have been approved shall be eligible for payment of grant.

(3) For the purpose of enabling the United Kingdom to apply for reimbursement from the Commission of the European Communities in respect of the grants paid under this Scheme, applicants who are eligible for payment of grant under this Scheme may be required to provide the Ministers with evidence of the length between perpendiculars of the vessels concerned measured in accordance with Article 2(2) of the Council Regulation.

Section 8 Conditions for payment of grant

No grant shall be paid under this Scheme unless the conditions set out in paragraphs 9 to 12 have been complied with.

Section 9 Conditions for payment of grant

The vessel shall not be scrapped before the applicant has been notified in accordance with paragraph 7(1).

Section 10 Conditions for payment of grant

(1) The applicant shall ensure that the vessel is scrapped in a member State.

(2) At least two weeks prior to the scrapping of the vessel the applicant shall notify the Ministers in writing of the intended date and place of scrapping and of the proposed method of scrapping.

Section 11 Conditions for payment of grant

(1) The applicant shall surrender the licence in respect of the vessel to the Ministers.

(2) The applicant shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the vessel is removed from the register.

(3) The applicant shall furnish to the Ministers before 1st March 1994 a declaration that the vessel has been scrapped, that it has been removed from the register and that the licence in respect of the vessel has been surrendered.

Section 12 Conditions for payment of grant

The applicant shall take all necessary steps to ensure that any person authorised in writing by the Ministers shall on producing, if required to do so, some duly authenticated document to show his authority, have the right at any reasonable time to inspect the vessel, and the carrying out of its scrapping, for the purpose of establishing that the provisions of this Scheme have been met.

Section 13 Amount of grant

The amount of decommissioning grant in respect of a vessel shall be the amount of the bid made by the applicant in his application.

Section 14 False statements

If any person makes a false statement or furnishes false information in connection with an application for a decommissioning grant under this Scheme, any payment of grant to that applicant may at any time be refused and any such payment already made in relation to that application may be recovered as a civil debt or, in Scotland, as a debt.