Amendments proposed to legislation on fishing vessels

The Government proposes amendments to the Act on Ships' Crews and the Safety Management of Ships. The amendment would implement a Council Directive requirement that every fishing vessel must carry a crew list and its copy must be provided to the authorised persons ashore.

The Government proposes that the obligation would apply only to vessels that have a hired crew. The amendment would not apply to self-employed persons engaged in fishing or to practitioners engaged in non-commercial fishing.

The Government submitted its proposal to Parliament on 21 October 2021. The amendments are expected to enter into force on 19 December 2021, which is the closing date of the derogation Finland applies at the moment. Under the derogation, only fishing vessels exceeding 24 metres in length have been obligated to supply a crew list.

What next

A referral debate will be held on the proposal now submitted by the Government to Parliament. The timetable for the debate will be listed on Parliament's website (upcoming plenary sessions).

After the referral debate, the proposal will be sent to the Transport and Communications Committee. Once the committee's report is ready, the matter will be discussed in a plenary session again.

Inquiries

Katja Peltola, Senior Officer, tel. +358 50 530 2175

Sini Wirén, Director of Unit, tel. +358 40 507 0916