Cap. 425 Art. 20Powers of entry and search on land of fisheries protection officers.

(1) For the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this Act a fisheries protection officer may -

(a) enter, at any reasonable time, any premises (other than a dwelling) used for carrying on business in connection with the operation of fishing vessels and activities ancillary thereto or with the treatment, storage or sale of fish;

(b) require any person on the premises to produce any documents relating to the catching, landing, transhipment, export, import, sale or disposal of fish;

(c) if he has reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence under this Act has been committed and that the cause of the offence may be removed or suppressed -

(i) enter and search without a warrant, with or without assistance, any premises referred to in paragraph (a), or any vehicle, aircraft, vessel or other means of conveyance and open and search any baggage, pack or other thing;

(ii) seize or detain any document or any gear or thing that he believes has been used in the commission of such offence;

(iii) seize any fish that he believes has been used, handled or processed in the commission of such offence;

(d) upon reasonable suspicion, stop and, or examine any vehicle, as well as any other means of storage or conveyance, wheresoever these may be, so as to ascertain that the provisions of this Act are complied with: Provided that for the purpose of this paragraph it shall be sufficient for reasonable suspicion to exist if the stop and examination is conducted on certain types of vehicles or other means of storage or conveyance that are normally used for the storage and conveyance of fish, fishing gear or any other object in contravention of the provisions of this Act, in particular areas and places, and at particular times of the day, during which such storage and conveyance normally takes place; and

(e) in the circumstances referred under paragraph (d), he may also seize any document, fish, fishing gear or any other thing found during the examination if he reasonably considers it as possible evidence of a contravention or offence against this Act, or if it otherwise assists in any investigation.

(2) A fisheries protection officer shall not be liable to any action and, or prosecution at law for the fulfilment of his duties under this article, including when the measures taken in fulfilment thereof result in no evidence or in no contravention or offence against this Act.