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1 1980

FISHERIES ACT, 1980

PART I

Preliminary and General

Short title, collective citation and construction.

1. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Fisheries Act, 1980.

(2) The Fisheries Acts, 1959 to 1978 and this Act may be cited together as the Fisheries Acts, 1959 to 1980.

(3) The Fisheries Acts, 1959 to 1976, the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1978 , and this Act shall be construed together as one.

Interpretation.

2. —(1) In this Act—

the Act of 1962” means the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1962 ;

the Act of 1977” means the European Assembly Elections Act, 1977 ;

the appointed day” means the day appointed by the Minister under section 3;

the arbitrator” has the meaning assigned to it by section 44 (2);

board”, except in Part II of the Second Schedule or where the context otherwise requires, means the Central Board or a regional board;

the Central Board” has the meaning assigned to it by section 7 (1);

the Central Board's transferred staff” has the meaning assigned to it by section 29 (1);

the Commissioners”, except in sections 27 and 28, means the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland;

easement” includes a profit à prendre and any right in or over water;

election year”, subject to section 15 (2), means the year fixed by the Minister under section 12 (5) and every fifth successive year thereafter;

the European Communities” means the European Economic Community, the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community;

fisheries region” has the meaning assigned to it by section 10;

functions” includes powers and duties;

the Principal Act” means the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act, 1959 ;

the proposed servient tenement” means the land over which the route of a way-leave or right of way shown on a plan referred to in section 37 (3) or section 39 (2) passes;

Register of Trout, Coarse Fish and Sea Anglers” has the meaning assigned to it by section 58 (1);

the required right of way” has the meaning assigned to it by section 39 (1);

regional board” has the meaning assigned to it by section 10 (3);

the regional board's transferred staff” has the meaning assigned to it by section 30 (1);

the Salmon Conservancy Fund” means the fund described in section 49 of the Principal Act;

strokehaul” means any weighted instrument or device which may be used, whether with a rod and line or otherwise, to foul-hook fish;

the Trust” means Iontaobhas Iascaigh Intíre Ioncorportha (The Inland Fisheries Trust Incorporated).

(2) Apart from section 8 (1), (b), insofar as it enables the Minister to give directions for the protection of molluscs, section 8 (1) (g) and subparagraphs (iii) and (iv) of section 11 (1) (c) of this Act, nothing in this Act shall be construed as enabling the Minister to give directions in relation to sea-fish or stocks of sea-fish or as assigning to either the Central Board or a regional board any function in relation to sea-fish or stocks of sea-fish.

Appointed day.

3. —The Minister may by order appoint a day to be the appointed day for the purposes of this Act.

Fishery year.

4. —(1) The Minister may by order specify that any reference to a fishery year in the Principal Act shall on and after such 31st day of December as may be specified in the order be construed and have effect as a reference to a period which is co-extensive with the calendar year.

(2) The Minister may as regards any provision contained in the Principal Act which relates to the determining, making, levying, collection or recovery of fishery rates and which is directly or indirectly related to or affected by the order described in subsection (1) of this section adapt, modify or otherwise amend the provision in such manner as he considers is appropriate having regard to the provision.

(3) Where an order under this section is for the time being in force, the Principal Act shall be construed and have effect subject to and in accordance with the provisions of the order.

Orders.

5. —(1) Subject to sections 10 (1) (b) and 54 (6) of this Act and to subsection (5) of this section, the Minister may by order amend or revoke an order made under section 8 (3) (b), 10 , 11 , 15 , 24 (6), 54 , 55 , 56 , or 57 of this Act, this subsection or section 81 (3) or 159 (6) of the Principal Act (inserted by sections 68 and 69 , respectively, of this Act).

(2) (a) Subject to paragraph (b) of this subsection, the Minister may—

(i) by order amend an order made under section 37 , 38 , 39 or 42 of this Act,

(ii) by order amend an order made under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph.

(b) In case the Minister proposes to amend an order under section 37 , 38 or 39 of this Act or this subsection, the following provisions shall apply:

(i) the Minister shall as soon as may be give notice in writing of his intention to amend the order to the Arbitrator who shall cause to be published a notice of the Minister's said intention in such newspapers and in such manner as the Arbitrator shall determine,

(ii) the Minister shall give notice in writing of his said intention to any person by whom an appeal relating to the order proposed to be amended was brought under this Act, or, in case the order is an order under subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of this subsection, to any person by whom an appeal relating either to the original order under section 37 , 38 or 39 of this Act or to any order under the said paragraph (a) which relates to such original order was so brought, or, if in either case any such person is deceased, to his personal representative,

(iii) the Minister shall not make the order unless a draft thereof has been submitted to and approved of under this paragraph by the Arbitrator,

(iv) the Arbitrator shall not determine an application under this paragraph by the Minister before the expiration of the period of thirty days beginning on the day on which the relevant notice is published pursuant to this subparagraph, or in case such publication is made on different days the day of the first such publication,

(v) any one or more of the following may, within such period of thirty days or such longer period as the Arbitrator may determine, serve on the Minister a notice of his intention to make an application to the Arbitrator in relation to the proposed order, namely:

(I) any person by whom such an appeal was so brought, or, in case such person is deceased, his personal representative, or

(II) the person who, immediately before the making of the order proposed to be amended, was the owner of the fishery or land acquired by that order or the successor in title of such person, or, if any right has been acquired by such order, the person who immediately prior to the making of the said order was entitled to the enjoyment of such right or the successor in title of such person, or, if such order was made under section 39 of this Act, the owner of the relevant servient tenement,

(vi) in case a notice is served on the Minister pursuant to this paragraph the Arbitrator shall, before deciding whether or not to approve of the proposed order, give the person by whom the notice was served an opportunity of being heard (either in person or through counsel or a solicitor), and

(vii) the Arbitrator may in determining the matter approve of the draft of the order in the form proposed by the Minister, approve of such draft subject to such amendments as the Arbitrator shall specify or refuse to give his approval.

(3) (a) The Commissioners may by order under their seal amend an order made by them under section 40 of this Act.

(b) The Irish Land Commission may by order under their seal amend an order made by them under section 41 of this Act.

(4) If in relation to an application under subsection (2) (b) of this section the Arbitrator is satisfied that after diligent inquiry a person to whom notice is required by subsection (2) (b) (ii) of this section to be given by the Minister cannot be found or ascertained, the Arbitrator may determine the application, notwithstanding the fact that such person cannot be found or ascertained.

(5) Subsection (7) of section 68 of the Principal Act (inserted by section 3 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1976) shall apply as regards an order under this section by which it is proposed to amend an order made under section 81 (3) or 159 (6) of the Principal Act (inserted by sections 68 and 69 , respectively, of this Act), as it applies as regards an order made under section 68 of the Principal Act.

Repeals.

6. —(1) The Principal Act is hereby repealed to the extent specified in column (2) of the First Schedule to this Act.

(2) In subparagraph (i) of section 33 (b) of the Act of 1962 the words “(provided that it has been fixed not less than three years previously)” are hereby repealed.

(3) Subsection (1) of this section, except in so far as it amends section 163 of the Principal Act and repeals clause (b) of paragraph 2 (1) of the Fifth Schedule to that Act, shall come into force on the appointed day.