301.—(1) In this section the expression “authorised officer” means any person being—

(a) a member of the Garda Síochána, or

F263[(b) any person, whether or not he is an officer of F264[Inland Fisheries Ireland], appointed in writing by F264[Inland Fisheries Ireland] to be an authorised officer for the purposes of this section,]

(c) an officer of the Minister, authorised in writing by the Minister to exercise the powers conferred by this section, or

(d) an officer or servant of the Electricity Supply Board authorised in writing by the Minister to exercise the powers conferred by this section.

(2) Every authorised officer is hereby authorised to do all or any of the following things:—

(a) to stop and search any person conveying or suspected to be conveying fish of any kind or any instrument or substance used or adapted for taking fish unlawfully and to inspect any fish, instrument or substance which such person is found to be conveying and for that purpose to open and search any vehicle or package in which such fish, instrument or substance is or may be or is believed to be conveyed;

(b) at all reasonable times to enter upon and have free access to F263[search]—

(i) any premises in which fish is or is believed to be sold, or kept, exposed or stored for sale, or

(ii) any premises in which poison or explosive intended for the destruction of fish is or is believed to be kept, or

(iii) the premises of any person engaged in the business of carrying goods for reward, or

(iv) any aerodrome, pier, quay, wharf, jetty, dock or dock premises, or

F265[(iva) any hotel, guest house, restaurant, or other premises or place at which board and lodging or meals are provided for reward, or]

(v) any ship, boat, aircraft, railway wagon, motor lorry, cart, or other vessel or vehicle used for the conveyance of goods;

(c) to examine all fish found in any place which he is authorised by this section to enter and for that purpose to open any package found in such place and containing or believed to contain fish;

(d) to stop, enter and search, on any river, lake or estuary, or the shores thereof or any part of the sea or the shores thereof any boat used or believed to be used for fishing or containing or suspected of containing fish unlawfully captured and to examine all fish and all fishing engines found therein and for that purpose to open any package which contains or is suspected of containing any fish or fishing engine;

F266[(da) if the boat contains or he believes or suspects that it contains fish unlawfully captured he may without summons, warrant or other process take the boat and all persons thereon to the nearest or most convenient port or other place, and if he decides to take the steps mentioned in subsection (2A) of this section, he may, pending the taking of those steps, detain the boat and the persons;]

F266[(db) he may for the purpose of exercising the power conferred on him by paragraph (da) of this subsection use such force as he may consider necessary;]

(e) to take, remove and detain in his custody any fish (either together with or without any package in which the same may be contained) found in the course of the exercise of any of the powers conferred by this section in respect of which an offence under this Act is being or is suspected of being committed or which have been or are suspected of having been unlawfully captured;

(f) to take, remove and detain in his custody any fishing engine or any article liable or believed to be liable to forfeiture under this Act;

F265[(ff) to take, remove and detain in his custody any boat or vehicle liable or believed to be liable to forfeiture under this Act,]

(g) to demand and take the name and address of the person having custody of any fish or other article which the authorised officer is authorised under this section to examine and also demand and take from such person the name and address of the owner of such fish or other article.

F266[(2A) Where an authorised officer has in exercise of the powers conferred on him by this section taken any boat and the persons thereon to a port or other place, he shall, as soon as may be, bring the person who at the time the boat was so taken was, or who appeared to him to be, in charge of the boat, and any other person who was then thereon, and against whom, in either case, proceedings for an offence under section 65, 69, 73, 97, 127, 132 140 or 182 of the Principal Act or section 29 of the Act of 1962 or for a contravention of a bye-law described in F264[paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) of section 57 (4) of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010], are or are about to be instituted before a District Justice or, where no District Justice is immediately available, a Peace Commissioner, and thereupon the District Justice or Peace Commissioner (as the case may be) shall, if he is satisfied that the proceedings are or are about to be instituted against the person, by order directed to an authorised officer or officers require the authorised officer or officers to detain at a specified port or other place in the State either, as may be specified in the order, such boat and the person or persons brought before him or such boat only until the proceedings have been adjudicated upon by a District Justice, and the boat or the boat and such person or persons, as may be appropriate, shall be detained accordingly.]

(3) Where an authorised officer detains in his custody under the authority of this section any fish or other article he shall, as soon as may be, take such steps as may be proper to have the person guilty or believed to be guilty of the offence committed or believed to have been committed in relation to such fish or other article dealt with according to law.

(4) Where—

(a) an authorised officer detains in his custody under this section any fish, and

(b) such fish is likely to become unfit for human food before the matter can conveniently be dealt with by any Court,

he shall produce such fish to a Peace Commissioner and thereupon the following provisions shall apply—

(i) if the Peace Commissioner is of opinion that such fish ought to be destroyed, he shall direct such authorised officer to destroy such fish, and such fish shall be destroyed accordingly;

(ii) if the Peace Commissioner is not of that opinion, he shall direct such authorised officer to sell such fish, and such fish shall be sold accordingly.

(5) A direction by a Peace Commissioner under subsection (4) of this section directing an authorised officer to destroy or sell fish shall—

(a) be in writing,

(b) be in such form as the Minister may direct,

(c) describe such fish and any marks, peculiarities or other particulars thereof pointed out to that Peace Commissioner by such authorised officer,

(d) be conclusive evidence in every Court of the matters of fact stated therein.

(6) No authorised officer shall be liable for any loss or damage occasioned by or in the course of the exercise of any of the powers conferred on him by this section F266[, whether such loss or damage occurs by reason of something done personally by such officer or by a person acting under his orders,] unless such loss or damage was caused by him wantonly or maliciously.

(7) Every person who obstructs or impedes an authorised officer in the exercise of any of the powers conferred on him by this section or refuses to give his own name and address or the name and address of any other person (so far as known to him) when lawfully demanded under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding two months.