Whether an officer, as referred to in section 5 (9) of the Solway Firth Regulated Fishery (Scotland) Order 2006 as authorised by the Solway…

The reference to an “officer” in section 5(9) of the proposed Solway Firth Regulated Fishery (Scotland) Order 2006 is to an officer of the Solway Shellfish Management Association and not to officers from the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency or Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary.
On the basis, however, that a number of different offences might be committed in association with illegal fishing, the Solway regulated fishery would be enforced on a multi-agency basis. This would include other organisations such as Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary and the Health and Safety Executive, carrying out their respective roles and exercising their existing statutory and common-law powers in conjunction with actions by the Solway Shellfish Management Association.
The Scottish Executive is currently seeking to augment the provisions for the enforcement of Regulating Orders using the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill. Options include enabling the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency to apply its powers within a regulated fishery and to confer upon the grantees of Regulating Orders those relevant powers of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency. These options remain subject to the bill’s passage through Parliament.