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Port State Measures Agreement Implementation Act (S.C. 2015, c. 18)

Assented to 2015-06-18

Port State Measures Agreement Implementation Act

S.C. 2015, c. 18

Assented to 2015-06-18

An Act to amend the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act

SUMMARY

This enactment amends the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act to implement the Port State Measures Agreement, to prohibit the importation of fish caught and marine plants harvested in the course of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and to clarify certain powers in respect of the administration and enforcement of the Act.

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

ALTERNATIVE TITLE

Marginal note:Alternative title

 This Act may be cited as the Port State Measures Agreement Implementation Act.

R.S., c. C-33COASTAL FISHERIES PROTECTION ACT

Marginal note:1999, c. 19, s. 1(4)
  •  (1) The definitions “Agreement”, “fishing vessel of a participating state” and “participating state” in subsection 2(1) of the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act are repealed.

  • (2) The definitions “fish” and “fishing vessel” in subsection 2(1) of the Act are replaced by the following:

    “fish”

    « poisson »

    “fish” includes

    • (a) any part or derivative of a fish,

    • (b) shellfish, crustaceans, marine animals and any part or derivative of any of them, and

    • (c) the eggs, sperm, spawn, larvae, spat or juvenile stages, as the case may be, of fish, shellfish, crustaceans and marine animals;

    “fishing vessel”

    « bateau de pêche »

    “fishing vessel” means any of the following:

    • (a) a ship, boat or any other description of vessel that is used in or equipped for

      • (i) fishing, processing fish or transporting fish from fishing grounds,

      • (ii) taking, processing or transporting marine plants, or

      • (iii) provisioning, servicing, repairing or maintaining any vessels of a foreign fishing fleet while at sea,

    • (b) a ship, boat or any other description of vessel that is used in transhipping fish, or marine plants, that have not been previously landed;

  • (3) Subsection 2(1) of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

    “fisheries management organization”

    « organisation de gestion des pêches »

    “fisheries management organization” means an organization or arrangement established by two or more states, or by one or more states and an organization of states, for the purpose of the conservation and management of fish stocks in the sea or any area of the sea;

    “fishing vessel of a state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement”

    « bateau de pêche d’un État assujetti à l’Accord sur les stocks de poissons »

    “fishing vessel of a state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement” means a foreign fishing vessel that is entitled to fly the flag of a state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement;

    “Fish Stocks Agreement”

    « Accord sur les stocks de poissons »

    “Fish Stocks Agreement” means the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in New York on August 4, 1995;

    “flag state”

    « État du pavillon »

    “flag state” means the state whose flag a fishing vessel is entitled to fly;

    “marine plant”

    « plante marine »

    “marine plant” means a saltwater plant, including benthic and detached algae, flowering plants, brown algae, red algae, green algae and phytoplankton, and any part or derivative of a saltwater plant;

    “Port State Measures Agreement”

    « Accord sur les mesures de l’État du port »

    “Port State Measures Agreement” means the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, approved by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome on November 22, 2009;

    “state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement”

    « État assujetti à l’Accord sur les stocks de poissons »

    “state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement” means a foreign state or an organization of foreign states that is prescribed by regulation;

Marginal note:1999, c. 19, s. 2

 The portion of section 5.3 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Prohibition — Fish Stocks Agreement

5.3 No fishing vessel of a state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement shall, in an area of the sea designated under subparagraph 6(e)(ii),

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 5.5:

PROHIBITED IMPORT

Marginal note:Prohibition — importation
  • 5.6 (1) No person shall import any fish or marine plant knowing it to have been taken, harvested, possessed, transported, distributed or sold contrary to any of the following:

    • (a) an international fisheries treaty or arrangement to which Canada is party, including any conservation, management or enforcement measures taken under the treaty or arrangement;

    • (b) any conservation or management measures of a fisheries management organization of which Canada is not a member that is prescribed by regulation;

    • (c) a law related to fisheries of a foreign state.

  • Marginal note:Prohibition — other

    (2) No person shall, in connection with the importation of any fish or marine plant, transport, sell, distribute, buy or accept the delivery of the fish or marine plant knowing that it was taken, harvested, possessed, transported, distributed or sold contrary to any of the following:

    • (a) an international fisheries treaty or arrangement to which Canada is party, including any conservation, management or enforcement measures taken under the treaty or arrangement;

    • (b) any conservation or management measures of a fisheries management organization of which Canada is not a member that is prescribed by regulation;

    • (c) a law related to fisheries of a foreign state.

  • Marginal note:Prohibition — importation

    (3) No person shall import any fish or marine plant that is not accompanied by the documentation required by regulation.

  •  (1) Paragraph 6(a) of the Act is amended by striking out “or” at the end of subparagraph (i), by adding “or” at the end of subparagraph (ii) and by adding the following after subparagraph (ii):

    • (iii) foreign fishing vessels that have been ordered to proceed to a Canadian port by their flag state, or foreign fishing vessels that have been ordered to proceed to a port by their flag state and that proceed to a Canadian port, to enter Canadian fisheries waters for any purpose related to verifying compliance with a law related to fisheries of a foreign state, with any conservation or management measures of a fisheries management organization or with any international fisheries treaty or arrangement to which Canada is party, including any conservation, management or enforcement measures taken under the treaty or arrangement;

  • (2) Section 6 of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (b.3):

    • (b.31) prescribing a fisheries management organization of which Canada is not a member for the purposes of paragraphs 5.6(1)(b) and (2)(b);

  • (3) Section 6 of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (d):

    • (d.1) respecting documentation required for the importation of fish and marine plants;

  • Marginal note:1999, c. 19, s. 3(2)

    (4) The portion of paragraph 6(e) of the Act before subparagraph (ii) is replaced by the following:

    • (e) for the implementation of the Fish Stocks Agreement, including regulations

      • (i) incorporating by reference, or carrying out and giving effect to, any conservation or management measures, as of a fixed date or as they are amended from time to time, of a regional fisheries management organization or arrangement established by two or more states, or by one or more states and an organization of states, for the purpose of the conservation or management of a straddling fish stock or highly migratory fish stock, and designating from among the measures incorporated by reference or regulations made under this subparagraph those the contravention of which is prohibited by paragraph 5.3(a),

  • Marginal note:1999, c. 19, s. 3(2)

    (5) Subparagraphs 6(e)(iii) and (iv) of the Act are replaced by the following:

    • (iii) setting out the circumstances in which a person engaged or employed in the administration or enforcement of this Act may exercise, in a manner consistent with the Fish Stocks Agreement and the measures incorporated by reference and the regulations made under subparagraph (i), the powers conferred by or under this Act and setting out any procedures to be followed in doing so,

    • (iv) empowering the Minister to authorize a state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement to take enforcement action in respect of a Canadian fishing vessel,

  • Marginal note:1999, c. 19, s. 3(2)

    (6) Subparagraphs 6(e)(vi) and (vii) of the Act are replaced by the following:

    • (vi) permitting Her Majesty in right of Canada to recover any reasonable costs incurred as a result of the detention in port of a fishing vessel of a state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement, and

    • (vii) prescribing a state party to the Fish Stocks Agreement for the purposes of this Act; and

  • Marginal note:1999, c. 19, s. 3(2)

    (7) Subparagraph 6(f)(i) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • (i) incorporating by reference, or carrying out and giving effect to, any of those measures as of a fixed date or as they are amended from time to time and designating from among the measures incorporated by reference or regulations made under this subparagraph those the contravention of which is prohibited by section 5.4,

 

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