Fisheries Act , 1925

PRELIMINARY.

1 Short title, construction, and citation.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Fisheries Act, 1925.

(2) This Act shall be construed as one with the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909, and those Acts, the Fisheries Act, 1924 (No. 6 of 1924), the Fisheries (Election of Conservators Postponement) Act, 1924 (No. 43 of 1924), and this Act may be cited together as the Fisheries Acts, 1842 to 1925.

2 Commencement.

2.—This Act shall come into operation on such day as shall be fixed by order of the Minister either generally or with reference to any particular Part of this Act, and different dates may be fixed for the commencement of different Parts of this Act.

3 Definitions.

3.—In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Fisheries; the word “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;

the expression “fishery year” means a period of twelve months beginning on the 1st day of October and ending on the 30th day of September next following;

the words “salmon” “trout,” and “fish” respectively include part of a salmon, part of a trout, and part of a fish.

PART I. ELECTION AND MEMBERSHIP OF BOARDS OF CONSERVATORS.

4 Cesser of office of existing boards.

4.—On the first Monday in the month of October next after the commencement of this Part of this Act all boards of conservators existing at the passing of this Act shall cease to hold office and new boards shall be elected.

5 Minister may alter number of conservators.

5.—(1) It shall be lawful for the Minister by order, from time to time when and so often as he shall think proper, to alter the number of conservators to be elected and returned for any electoral division, but the number of such conservators shall not by any such order be increased to more than nine or reduced to less than three.

(2) Every order made under this section shall come into operation in respect of each electoral division to which the order relates at the election of conservators for that electoral division held next after the date of the order.

6 Amendment of section 29 of Salmon Fishery (Ireland) Act, 1863.

6.—Section 29 of the Salmon Fishery (Ireland) Act, 1863, shall be construed and have effect as if the word “district” were inserted therein in lieu of the words “electoral division” now contained therein.

7 Amendment of section 6 of Fisheries (Ireland) Act, 1848.

7.—Section 6 of the Fisheries (Ireland) Act, 1848, shall be construed and have effect as if the words “fifty pounds yearly or upwards” were substituted therein for the words “one hundred pounds yearly or upwards.”

8 Scale of Votes.

8.—(1) The following scale of votes shall be substituted for the scale contained in section 9 of the Fisheries (Ireland) Act, 1848, that is to say if the licence duty paid as mentioned in the said section by the person voting shall not amount to three pounds, he shall have one vote, if such licence duty shall amount to three pounds and not to six pounds he shall have two votes, if such licence duty shall amount to six pounds and not to ten pounds he shall have three votes, and if such licence duty shall amount to or exceed ten pounds he shall have four votes.

(2) In computing for the purpose of the scale contained in the foregoing sub-section the licence duty paid by any person the following sums shall not be taken into account, that is to say:—

(a) any sum of ten shillings paid by such person for fishing in a district other than that in which he already holds a salmon rod licence, or

(b) any sum of one pound paid by such person for a single salmon rod licence for a period not exceeding fourteen days.

(3) So much of the said section 9 of the Fisheries (Ireland) Act, 1848, as authorises voting by proxy shall cease to have effect and voting under that section as amended by this section shall be in person only.

9 Conservators may resign.

9.—(1) Any elected member of a board of conservators may at any time by notice in writing delivered to the clerk of the board resign his membership of the board, and in every such case the seat of such member on the board shall (unless the notice is previously withdrawn) become and be vacant at and from the commencement of the meeting of the board held next after the delivery of the notice to the clerk.

(2) A notice of resignation under this section may be withdrawn by a notice in writing delivered to the clerk of the board before the commencement of the meeting of the board held next after the delivery of the notice of resignation to the clerk.

(3) A notice under this section may be delivered to the clerk by leaving the same for him at his office or by sending the same by prepaid letter post in an envelope addressed to the clerk at his office, and in the last-mentioned case the notice shall be deemed to have been delivered to the clerk at the time when the envelope containing the notice would have been delivered at his office in the ordinary course of post.

10 Disqualification of members of boards of conservators.

10.—(1) Any elected member of a board of conservators who during a period of six consecutive months absents himself from all meetings of that board and all meetings of the conservators for the electoral division which he represents shall be disqualified for continuing to be a member of such board and one fortnight after the expiration, of the period aforesaid his seat on such board shall, subject to the provisions of this section, become and be vacant.

(2) Whenever a member of a board of conservators is about to become or has become disqualified under this section from continuing to be a member of such board the Minister may, not later than one fortnight after the expiration of the period aforesaid, and if in his opinion the special circumstances of the case justify him in so doing, extend the said period by such further period as he shall think proper, and thereupon the first sub-section of this section shall have effect in that particular case as if such extended period were substituted for the said period of six consecutive months, but no such period of six consecutive months shall be extended under this sub-section more than once.

11 Casual vacancies to be filled by co-option.

11.—(1) Whenever during the term of office of any board of conservators the seat of any elected member of the board becomes vacant by death, resignation, incapacity, or disqualification, it shall be lawful for the other members of the board or such of them as shall be present by resolution duly passed at a meeting of the board to elect a person to be a member of the board during the residue of the term of office of the board in place of the member whose seat is so vacant. Any such casual vacancy shall be filled at or before the second meeting of the board after such vacancy occurs.

(2) When the seat of any member of a board of conservators becomes vacant as aforesaid the other members of the board may until the vacancy is filled under this section continue to act notwithstanding such vacancy.

PART II. FINANCE OF BOARDS OF CONSERVATORS.

12 Alteration of rates of licence duty.

12.—(1) The Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909, shall be construed and have effect as if in the Schedule to the Fisheries (Ireland) Act, 1848, there had been inserted the several duties mentioned in the First Schedule to this Act in lieu of the several duties mentioned at numbers 1, 3, 4, 5 and 14 in the said Schedule to the said Fisheries (Ireland) Act, 1848, and notwithstanding anything contained in the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909, no board of conservators shall have authority to diminish or reduce any of the said duties so mentioned in the said First Schedule to this Act.

(2) If any board of conservators shall so determine and resolve a licence for angling with a single salmon rod in their district during the limited period of fourteen days from the date of the licence may be issued and shall be obtainable on or after the 1st day of January next after such determination and resolution on payment of the licence duty of one pound.

(3) The licence duty for long lines for eels shall be two pounds in every district in lieu of such duties for such lines as are now in force, and no board of conservators shall have authority to diminish or reduce the said licence duty of two pounds.

(4) The proviso to section 30 of the Fisheries (Ireland) Act, 1848, is hereby repealed and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted that no person who shall have taken out a licence for a rod for a calendar year in any district shall be entitled to angle with a rod for salmon in any other district unless and until he shall have taken out a licence for a rod in such other district and paid the licence duty specified in that behalf in the First Schedule to this Act

13 Rates on fisheries.

13.—(1) Every board of conservators is hereby empowered on or before the 31st day of December in every fishery year to which this section applies to strike a rate on all fisheries within their district rated for the relief of the poor or which but for the exemption conferred by this section would be so rated of such amount per cent, as with the estimated amount of their other income will be sufficient to meet the estimated amount of their expenditure for that fishery year.

(2) Every rate struck by a board of conservators under this section shall be subject to confirmation by the Minister who may confirm the same either without modification or with such modification (whether by way of increase or reduction) as he shall think proper.

(3) Every rate struck by a board of conservators under this section and confirmed (with or without modification) by the Minister shall be duly levied, collected, and recovered by the board in the manner and with the powers provided by the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909, in respect of rates leviable under those Acts.

(4) If a board of conservators shall fail to strike on or before the 31st day of December in any fishery year to which this section applies a rate for that fishery year the Minister may, if he thinks fit so to do, on or before the 28th day of February in that fishery year strike a rate for the district of such board of conservators for such fishery year and in such case the rate so struck by the Minister shall be levied, collected, and recovered by such board of conservators in like manner in all respects as if such rate had been struck by the board and confirmed by the Minister under this section.

(5) Every rate made under this section and every rate struck by the Minister under this section shall be paid by the several persons rated for the same in two moieties on the 1st day of April and the 1st day of September in the fishery year for which the rate is struck, and shall be so paid over and above all or any licence duties paid by such persons under the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909, or this Act for that or any other fishery year.

(6) Every person who is liable to be rated under the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909 as amended by this Act in respect of a fishery shall be exempt from liability for any rate leviable by the council of any county, county borough, or urban district, or the commissioners of any town, in respect of that fishery for the local financial year commencing on the first day of April next after the commencement of this Part of this Act or for any of the nine next succeeding local financial years, and no such council or commissioners shall levy or collect any rate in respect of any such fishery for any of the said local financial years.

(7) If the Minister for Local Government and Public Health shall certify that by reason of the exemption conferred by this section from liability for rates in respect of fisheries, the amount of the rate which but for this sub-section would require to be made and levied upon and in any area for the service of a local financial year ending within ten years after the 1st day of April next following the commencement of this Part of this Act by the council of a county, county borough, or urban district, or the commissioners of a town has been increased by an amount greater than one penny in the pound, the Minister for Fisheries shall out of moneys to be from time to time provided by the Oireachtas pay to such council or commissioners before the end of such local financial year an amount equal to the sum which would be produced by a rate upon and in such area equivalent to the amount in the pound by which such increase exceeds one penny in the pound.

(8) The several provisions in relation to rating contained in the Fisheries (Ireland) Acts, 1842 to 1909, so far as the same are inconsistent with the provisions of this section shall not have effect during any fishery year to which this section applies, but save to that extent the said provisions shall apply to the rates leviable under this section in like manner as they apply to the rates heretofore leviable under the said Acts.

(9) This section applies to the fishery year commencing on the 1st day of October next after the commencement of this Part of this Act and to each of the nine next succeeding fishery years.

14 Board of conservators to furnish annual estimate.

14.—(1) It shall be the duty of every board of conservators to furnish to the Minister on or before the 30th day of November in every fishery year an estimate of all the monies to be received by them in that fishery year and of the proposed application of such monies and other proposed expenditure for that fishery year.

(2) The Minister may approve either without amendment or with such amendments (whether by way of alteration, addition or omission) as he may think fit, any estimate of proposed expenditure furnished to him pursuant to the foregoing sub-section of this section.

(3) From and after the first day of October next after the commencement of this Part of this Act it shall not be lawful for any board of conservators to incur any expenditure in any fishery year save only such expenditure as is mentioned in the estimate of expenditure for that fishery year as approved of by the Minister under this section and such further expenditure (if any) as may be specially sanctioned by the Minister.

15 Audit of accounts of boards of conservators.

15.—(1) The accounts of the receipts and payments of every board of conservators shall be made up yearly to the end of each fishery year and such accounts shall be audited by an auditor of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health nominated for the purpose by that Minister.

(2) The following enactments, that is to say, sections 11 to 15 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1871, sub-section (2) of section 63 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, and sections 20 and 21 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1902, as amended or adapted by or under any enactment now in force shall apply to the audit and auditor of the accounts of boards of conservators in the same manner as such enactments as so amended or adapted apply to the audit and auditor of the accounts of the public bodies specified therein, save that the appeal given by those enactments as so amended or adapted from an allowance, disallowance, or surcharge to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health shall lie to the Minister for Fisheries in lieu of the Minister aforesaid and the references in the said enactments as so amended or adapted to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health shall in respect of such appeals be construed and take effect as references to the Minister for Fisheries.

(3) The Minister for Fisheries may by regulations made under this Act prescribe the form in which the accounts of boards of conservators are to be kept, the person by whom and the time within which such accounts are to be produced for audit, the mode of conducting the audit, and any other matter or thing relating to the audit of such accounts which may be necessary to enable this section to have effect.

(4) The Minister for Local Government and Public Health shall from time to time as occasion requires ascertain and determine what proportion of the salary paid to the auditor appointed to audit the accounts of a board of conservators should be charged in respect of such audit, and the amount of such proportion of such salary shall be paid by such board of conservators to the said Minister.

PART III. RESTRICTIONS ON THE SALE OF SALMON AND TROUT.

16 Prohibition of sale of salmon, etc., without licences.

16.—(1) From and after the commencement of this Part of this Act no person shall sell, expose for sale, or keep for sale any salmon or trout (other than salmon or trout preserved and sold in tins) without being duly licensed under this Act so to sell the same or at any place where he is not authorised by his licence to sell the same.

(2) Any person who shall, after the expiration of two months from the commencement of this Part of this Act, sell, expose for sale, or keep for sale any salmon or trout in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and 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.

(3) Any person who shall, after the expiration of two months from the commencement of this Part of this Act, buy any salmon or trout from any person whom he knows or has reason to believe to be selling the same in contravention of 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.

(4) This section shall not apply to a fisherman selling fish of his own lawful capture.

17 Issue of licences.

17.—(1) Every board of conservators may subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act issue through their clerk to any person applying for the same a licence for the sale of salmon and trout at such place or places within the district of the board as shall be specified by the applicant and may in like manner and subject as aforesaid from time to time renew any such licence so issued by them unless the same has been terminated under this Act.

(2) Every application for the issue or renewal of such licence as aforesaid shall be made in writing to the clerk of the board of conservators and shall be in the prescribed form and contain the prescribed particulars, and, in the case of an application for renewal, shall be made within fourteen days before or within one month after the expiration of the existing licence or renewal.

18 Certificate of Justice to be obtained.