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14 1959

FISHERIES (CONSOLIDATION) ACT, 1959

Chapter II.

Protection of Fishing Waters from Poisoning and Pollution.

Penalty for steeping flax or hemp in waters or throwing, etc. deleterious matter into waters.

171. —(1) Any person who—

(a) steeps in any waters any flax or hemp, or

(b) throws, empties, permits or causes to fall into any waters any deleterious matter,

shall, unless such act is done under and in accordance with a licence granted by the Minister under this section, be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds or at the discretion of the court to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(2) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section any flax or hemp found in waters in respect of which the offence was committed shall, as a statutory consequence of conviction, stand forfeited.

(3) The Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Industry and Commerce or (in the case of a licence to be granted to a sanitary authority in relation to a sewerage scheme) with the Minister for Local Government, may grant licences for the purposes of this section, may attach conditions to any licence, and may after like consultation revoke any licence.

Protection of waters from pollution.

172. —(1) In this section, the expression “deleterious liquid” means any deleterious or poisonous liquid or washings or drainage from any deleterious matter.

(2) Where any receptacle used for containing or conveying any deleterious matter is within thirty yards of any waters—

(a) the owner of that receptacle shall provide and maintain such means (in this subsection referred to as suitable means) as will effectively prevent the passage of any deleterious liquid from that receptacle into such waters,

(b) if the owner thereof fails to carry out the duty imposed on him by paragraph (a) of this subsection, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding five pounds for each day during which such failure continues,

(c) where the Minister is satisfied that suitable means have been provided in relation to that receptacle, he may, on the application of the owner thereof, issue to him a certificate (which shall remain in force for such period as may be specified therein) and such certificate shall specify the suitable means and the manner in which they are to be used,

(d) if—

(i) the owner thereof is charged with an offence under this section in relation to that receptacle, and

(ii) he proves that a certificate in respect of that receptacle was issued under paragraph (c) of this subsection and that since the issue of the certificate the suitable means specified therein remained available and had been used in the manner specified therein, and

(iii) the certificate was in force on the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed,

then the charge shall be dismissed.