80.— (1) Where an authorised officer has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is committing or has committed an offence—

(a) under a provision of the Principal Act mentioned in column (2) of Part 1 of Schedule 6 or such other provision of the Principal Act as may be prescribed,

(b) against such bye-laws made or deemed to have been made under section 57 as may be prescribed, or

(c) in relation to the contravention of bye-laws made or deemed to have been made under section 57 of a type described in column (2) of Part 2 of Schedule 6 or of such type as may be prescribed,

he or she may serve the person with a fixed charge notice in the prescribed form stating that—

(i) the person is alleged to have committed the offence,

(ii) the person may, during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of the notice, make to IFI at the address specified in the notice a payment of the prescribed amount (“fixed charge”) specified in the notice, and

(iii) a prosecution in respect of an alleged offence will not be instituted during the period specified in the notice and, if the payment specified in the notice is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will be instituted.

(2) Where a fixed charge notice is given under subsection (1)—

(a) the person to whom the notice applies may, during the period specified in the notice, make to IFI at the address specified in the notice the payment specified in the notice accompanied by the notice,

(b) IFI may receive the payment, issue a receipt for it and retain the money so paid, and any payment so received shall not be recoverable in any circumstances by the person who made it, and

(c) a prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall not be instituted in the period specified in the notice, and if the payment so specified is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall be instituted.

(3) In a prosecution for an offence referred to in subsection (1) the onus of proving that a payment pursuant to a notice under this section has been made shall lie on the defendant.

(4) The Minister may by regulations prescribe the amount of a fixed charge and may prescribe different amounts in relation to—

(a) different offences,

(b) offences involving different species of fish, or the use of different fishing engines or different methods of angling, and

(c) offences committed in different areas.

(5) In this section “authorised officer” means a person who is an authorised officer (within the meaning of paragraphs (b) (inserted by paragraph 1(vv) of the Fourth Schedule to the Act of 1980) and (c) of section 301(1) of the Principal Act).