ADVOKS GLOBAL · KENYA
Fisheries Management and Development Act
178. Presumptions
Edition: 2026-07-10 · In force
178. Presumptions
(1)All fish found on board any fishing vessel which has been used in the commission of an offence under this Act shall unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to have been caught during the commission of that offence.(2)All fish found on board any fishing vessel in respect of which false or misleading information or no information has been provided prior to the vessel's entry into port as required pursuant to this Act, shall unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to have been caught during the commission of an offence or during illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing activities.(3)Where, in any legal proceedings under this Act, the place in which an event is alleged to have taken place is in issue, the place stated in the relevant entry in the logbook or other official record of any enforcement vessel or aircraft as being the place in which the event took place shall be presumed to be the place in which the event took place.(4)The production of a written copy or extract of the entry certified by a fisheries inspector as a true copy of the accurate extract shall be prima facie evidence of an entry in a logbook or other official record of an enforcement vessel or aircraft.(5)Where in any legal proceedings relating to an offence under this Act—(a)an authorized officer gives evidence of reasonable grounds to believe any fish to which the charge relates were taken in a specified area of the fishery waters or taken by the use of illegal gear, and(b)the Court considers that, having regard to that evidence the grounds are reasonable,all the fish shall be presumed to have been so taken, unless the contrary is proved.(6)Where any information is given for a fishing vessel under this Act or an access agreement in relation to any fishing activity of a fishing vessel, it shall be presumed to have been given by the master, owner or charterer of the vessel concerned, unless it is proved it was not given or authorized to be given by any of them.(7)Any entry in writing or other mark in or on any log, chart or other document required to be maintained under this Act or used to record the activities of a fishing vessel shall be deemed to be that of the master, owner and charterer of the vessel, unless proven otherwise.(8)Any position fixing instrument on board a vessel or aircraft used for the enforcement of this Act shall be presumed to be accurate.(9)For the purposes of subsection (6), a position fixing instrument shall be deemed to be any device which indicates the location of a vessel, including but not limited to any global positioning system.(10)The readings from any vessel monitoring, communications or navigation equipment required under this Act, either made from a printout or observed from a visual display unit, and which are capable either wholly or partly of producing the readings concerned and are not merely receivers of information or data, when checked for correct working and read by a competent operator, shall, unless the contrary is proved, be presumed to give accurate readings within the manufacturers specified limits.(11)Unless the contrary is proved, any person who is found in possession of any illegal fishing gear, including explosives, poison or any device capable of producing an electric shock on or near the fishery waters shall be presumed to be undertaking an unlawful activity contrary to this Act.