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32 1925

FISHERIES ACT, 1925

PART IV.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Marking of packages containing salmon or trout.

23. —(1) From and after the commencement of this Part of this Act every package containing salmon or trout in course of transit in Saorstát Eireann shall be marked conspicuously on the outside with the words “salmon and trout,” or the word “salmon” or the word “trout,” as the case may require, and shall also have marked thereon or on a label affixed thereto the name and address of the consignor thereof.

(2) Every person who shall send or consign for transit in Saorstát Eireann any package containing salmon or trout which is not marked in the manner required by this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

(3) Every person who shall carry for reward by land in Saorstát Eireann or by sea from any port in Saorstát Eireann any package containing salmon or trout which is not marked in the manner required by this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section unless he proves that he did not know and could not reasonably have known that such package contained salmon or trout.

(4) Every person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction thereof in the case of a first offence to a fine not exceeding ten pounds and in the case of a second or any subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(5) For the purpose of this section a package shall be deemed to be in course of transit in Saorstát Eireann when the same is being carried by any means whatsoever from any premises or place in Saorstát Eireann to any other premises or place within or outside Saorstát Eireann or is in any place, public or private, in the course of or for the purpose of such carriage.

Powers of inspection, examination and detention.

24. —(1) Every member of the Gárda Síochána and every officer or servant of a board of conservators authorised in writing by such board to exercise the powers conferred by this section and every officer of the Minister authorised by the Minister to exercise the powers conferred by this section is hereby authorised and empowered to do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—

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

(b) at all reasonable times to enter upon and have free access to the interior of—

(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 believed to be kept, or

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

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

(v) any ship, boat, railway waggon, 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, barge, corach, or other vessel used or believed to be used for fishing or containing or suspected of containing fish illegally captured and to examine all fish and all nets and other instruments used in fishing found therein and for that purpose to open any package which contains or is suspected of containing any fish, nets, or other instruments as aforesaid;

(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 the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909, the Fisheries Act, 1924 , or this Act is being or is suspected of being committed or which have been or are suspected of having been illegally captured;

(f) to take, remove, and detain in his custody any net or other instrument used in fishing or any article which is liable or is believed to be liable to forfeiture under the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909, or the Fisheries Act, 1924 , or this Act;

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

(2) When any person detains in his custody under the authority of this section any fish or other article he shall as soon as conveniently 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.

(3) Where any person detains in his custody under the authority of this section any fish and such fish is likely to become unfit for human food before the matter can conveniently be dealt with by any court, such person shall produce such fish to a Peace Commissioner, and if authorised so to do by such Peace Commissioner shall destroy such fish.

(4) A Peace Commissioner to whom any fish is produced in pursuance of this section shall, if he is of opinion that the fish ought in the circumstances to be destroyed, give to the person producing the fish a certificate in writing describing the fish and any marks, peculiarities, or other particulars thereof pointed out to him by such person and authorising such person to destroy the fish, which certificate shall be conclusive evidence in every court of all such matters of fact as aforesaid stated therein.

(5) No person 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 unless such loss or damage was caused by such person wantonly or maliciously.

(6) Every person who shall obstruct or impede any person in the exercise of any of the powers conferred on him by this section or shall refuse 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.

Appointments of officers and servants to be subject to approval of Minister.

25. —(1) Every appointment of a clerk, or other officer or servant made by any board of conservators after the commencement of this Act, and the salary, allowances, and tenure of office of every person so appointed shall be subject to the approval of the Minister and no such appointment shall take effect unless and until the approval of the Minister thereto is communicated in writing to the board.

(2) The Minister may at any time by notice in writing require any board of conservators to suspend from duty or to dismiss any clerk or other officer or servant of the board, and in the event of a board of conservators failing for a period of one month to comply with a notice under this section the Minister may himself by order suspend from duty or dismiss the clerk or other officer or servant mentioned in the notice.

Power of Minister to dissolve boards of conservators.

26. —(1) If and whenever any board of conservators has failed for a period of six months to hold any meeting or has failed during a period of six months to discharge their duties to the satisfaction of the Minister, the Minister may dissolve such board and thereupon a new election of members of such board shall be held upon such date (not being less than one fortnight or more than six weeks after the date of the order) as shall be prescribed by the order.

(2) Every election of members of a board of conservators in pursuance of this section shall be held and conducted in the like manner in all respects as a triennial election of the members of such board is required by law to be held, but the board so elected shall hold office only until the expiration of the triennial period for which the dissolved board was elected.

Power of Minister to alter, etc., fishery districts and electoral divisions.

27. —(1) The Minister may by order do all or any of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) alter the boundaries of any fishery district or electoral division subsisting at the date of the order,

(b) unite any two or more fishery districts or electoral divisions so subsisting,

(c) subdivide any fishery district or electoral division so subsisting,

(d) create new fishery districts,

(e) create new electoral divisions in fishery districts subsisting at the date of the order,

(f) divide any fishery district created (whether by union, subdivision or otherwise) under this section into two or more electoral divisions,

(g) appoint the number of conservators (but not more than nine nor less than three) to be elected for any electoral division created (whether by union, subdivision, division or otherwise) under this section or the boundaries of which are altered under this section, and either provide for the election of or himself nominate persons to act as such conservators until the next triennial elections.

(2) Whenever the Minister by an order made under this section creates (whether by union, subdivision, or otherwise) any new fishery district or electoral division or alters the boundaries of any then subsisting fishery district or electoral division, he shall by such order appoint the boundaries or new boundaries (as the case may be) of such district or division, and shall annex to such order a suitable map showing such boundaries or new boundaries.

(3) Whenever the Minister by an order made under this section alters the boundaries of or subdivides any fishery district or unites two or more fishery districts, or creates a new fishery district, the Minister may by the same order or by a subsequent order (which he is hereby authorised to make) direct that all or any specified part of the moneys and other assets which at the date of the order are in the hands of the board of conservators of any fishery district affected by the order shall, subject to the liabilities of such board be disposed of in such manner as the Minister thinks proper to direct and specify in such order, and when any such order is made the moneys and other assets to which it relates shall, subject to the said liabilities, be disposed of accordingly.

(4) Every order made by the Minister under this section shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be published (without the map (if any) annexed thereto but with a statement of where such map (if any) may be inspected) in the Iris Oifigiúil and in one or more newspapers circulating in the fishery districts affected by the order, and a copy of such order and of the map (if any) annexed thereto shall be deposited with the Clerk of the Peace for every county and the District Court Clerk of every district which, or any part of which, is affected by the order, and in every station of the Gárda Síochána within the fishery districts affected by the order.

Power of making byelaws, etc., transferred to Minister.

28. —(1) On and after the commencement of this Part of this Act the several powers of making, revoking or varying bye-laws, definitions, rules, regulations, and orders conferred on or exercisable by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland by virtue of the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909, shall be transferred to, vested in, and exercisable by the Minister and shall cease to be exercisable by the Department aforesaid, and any appeal from the making, revoking or varying of any such bye-laws, definitions, rules, regulations, or orders to the Lord Lieutenant in council shall likewise cease to exist.

(2) Notwithstanding any appeal which may be pending but without prejudice to any order which may be made on such appeal every bye-law, definition, rule, regulation, and order made by the Minister under this section shall come into operation on the day specified in that behalf therein, and if no such day is specified shall come into operation on the twenty-eighth day after the day on which the same is made.

(3) Every bye-law, definition, rule, regulation, and order made by the Minister under this section shall, as soon as may be after the same is made, be published in the Iris Oifigiúil and in one or more newspapers circulating in the district affected thereby, and a copy of every such bye-law, definition, rule, regulation, and order shall within one month after the same comes into operation be deposited with the Clerk of the Peace for every county which or any part of which is affected thereby, and with the District Court Clerk of every Court District which or any part of which is affected thereby, and in every station of the Gárda Síochána within the area affected thereby.

(4) Any person aggrieved by a bye-law, definition, rule, regulation, or order made by the Minister under any of the powers transferred to him by this section may, within one fortnight after the publication of such bye-law, definition, rule, regulation, or order in the Iris Oifigiúil, appeal against the same in accordance with rules of court made under Part 1 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1924 (No. 10 of 1924), to a court to be constituted for the purpose and to consist of one judge of the Supreme Court (who shall preside) nominated by the Chief Justice of the Irish Free State and two judges of the High Court nominated by the President of the High Court, and the Court so constituted shall have power to confirm or annul the bye-law, definition, rule, regulation, or order appealed against but without prejudice to the validity of anything done under or in pursuance of the bye-law, definition, rule, regulation, or order before the date of the order of the Court.

(5) Every order made by the said Court on an appeal under the foregoing sub-section shall be published and copies thereof shall be deposited in like manner as bye-laws made by the Minister under this section are required by this section to be published and deposited.

Power of appointing officers transferred to Minister.

29. —All the powers of appointing water-bailiffs or other officers for the purposes of the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909, vested in or exercisable by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland shall be transferred to, vested in, and exercisable by the Minister and shall cease to be exercisable by the said Department.

Notice of meetings and inquiries.

30. —Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts 1842 to 1909, notice of any public inquiry or public meeting held under those Acts shall be sufficiently given if given not less than fourteen days before the holding of the inquiry or meeting and in the manner hereinafter mentioned, that is to say:—

(a) by the distribution in such manner as may be approved of by the Minister, of printed notices announcing the time and place at which the inquiry or meeting is to be held and the matters to be inquired into or considered thereat, and

(b) by the publication once in one or more newspapers circulating in the district of an advertisement stating the time and place at which the inquiry or meeting is to be held and the matters to be inquired into or considered thereat.

Prohibition of fixed engines not now certificated.

31. —(1) No person shall fish with, make use of, or erect any fixed engine for the capture of salmon unless a certificate in regard to such fixed engine was granted under the Salmon Fishery (Ireland) Act, 1863, or the Fisheries (Ireland) Act, 1869, before the 31st day of December, 1923, and was subsisting unrevoked on that day.

(2) Every person who shall fish with, make use of, or erect any fixed engine for the capture of salmon in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section, and shall on summary conviction thereof, forfeit such fixed engine and be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds and a further penalty not exceeding twenty pounds for every day during which such fixed engine shall have been fished with, made use of, or erected.

Exemptions for artificial propagation and scientific purposes.

32. —(1) The Minister may by certificate in writing if he thinks fit and subject to such conditions as he shall specify in the certificate authorise the owner of a fishery or with the consent of such owner any other named person to do at any season of the year all or any of the following things, that is to say:—

(a) to catch or attempt to catch within the limits of such fishery and to have in his possession any salmon or trout for the purpose of artificial propagation and the young or fry of salmon, trout, and eels for the purpose of stocking that or any other fishery,

(b) to buy or sell ova and fry of salmon, trout, and eels for the purpose of artificial propagation or the stocking of that or any other fishery,

(c) to catch or attempt to catch and to have in his possession for scientific purposes any fish of any kind specified in the certificate.

(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any of the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909, the Fisheries Act, 1924 , or this Act, any person to whom a certificate is granted under this section may, subject to the conditions specified in the certificate, do all or any of the things which he is authorised by the certificate to do.

Penalty on giving warning to persons fishing illegally.

33. —Every person who shall make or cause to be made or aid or assist in making any signal or warning to any person engaged in fishing illegally of the approach of any bailiff, officer of a board of conservators, or officer of the law shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a penalty not exceeding five pounds.

Restriction on fishing for eels in close time.

34. —Every person who shall, during any time which is for the time being fixed by law as the close time for eels, wilfully take or fish for or aid or assist in taking or fishing for eels otherwise than with a single rod and line shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall on summary conviction thereof forfeit every eel so taken or caught and be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.

Amendment of section 78 of Fisheries (Ireland) Act, 1842.

35. —Section 78 of the Fisheries (Ireland) Act, 1842, shall be construed and have effect as if the words “between sunset and sunrise” were omitted therefrom.

Regulations.

36. —(1) The Minister may by order make regulations in regard to any matter or thing referred to in this Act as prescribed or as being or to be prescribed or prescribed by regulations made under this Act.

(2) Every regulation made by the Minister under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after they are made, and if a resolution is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat annulling such regulation, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.

Prosecution of offences and disposal of fines.

37. —(1) Sub-section (2) of section 9 of the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act, 1924 (No. 44 of 1924) shall not apply to any prosecution of an offence under any section of the Fisheries Act, 1924 (No. 6 of 1924), or this Act.

(2) For the purposes of section 19 of the Fisheries (Ireland) Act, 1869, the expression “the Acts relating to salmon fisheries in Ireland” shall include the Fisheries Act, 1924 , and this Act, and the said section 19 shall be construed and have effect accordingly.

Expenses.

38. —All expenses of carrying this Act into effect shall, to such extent as shall be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas.