S.I. No. 136/2004 - Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme Regulations 2004

I, JOHN BROWNE, Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 24 (as amended by section 3 (a) of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2000 (No. 34 of 2000)) of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1999 (No. 35 of 1999), after consultation with the National Salmon Commission, and section 90(3)(a)(v) (inserted by section 4 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2000 ) of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959 (No. 14 of 1959), the Fisheries (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1977 ( S.I. No. 30 of 1977 ) (as adapted by the Marine (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 307 of 2002 )) and the Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 374 of 2002 ), hereby make the following regulations:

Citation

1.

Interpretation

2.

“Act of 1980” means the Fisheries Act 1980 (No. 1 of 1980);

“Act of 1994” means the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1994 (No. 23 of 1994);

“Act of 2000” means the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2000 (No. 34 of 2000);

“authorised agent” means an authorised agent (within the meaning of section 70(1) of the Principal Act) of a regional board;

“commercial fishing engine” means a draft net, a drift net, any other fishing engine or a snap net;

“commercial fishing licence” means a licence authorising the use of a commercial fishing engine for the taking of salmon or sea trout;

“dealer” means the holder of a salmon dealer’s licence;

“dealer’s record book” means a record book in the form set out in Schedule 6 or a form to the like effect;

“document” includes a dealer’s record book, a gill tags issues register or a tag removals register;

“draft net” includes a single wall of netting attached to a floating head rope and a weighted ground rope, designed so that a bag is formed into which the catch is drafted or hauled, for the purpose of taking or fishing for, or attempting to take or to fish for, salmon or sea trout;

“drift net” includes a single sheet of netting attached to a floating head rope and a weighted ground rope, designed to drift freely at the surface of waters for the purpose of taking or fishing for, or attempting to take or to fish for, salmon or sea trout, to which net or ropes no weights or anchoring devices are attached which in any way hinder or prevent the free movement of the net in those waters;

“farmed salmon or sea trout” includes salmon or sea trout reared entirely in captivity pursuant to an aquaculture licence and salmon or sea trout produced by means of aquaculture and imported from outside the State;

“fishing licence” means a commercial fishing licence or a salmon rod ordinary licence;

“gill tag” means a gill tag as described in Schedule 1;

“gill tags issues register” means a register in the form set out in Schedule 5 or a form to the like effect;

“holder of a fishing licence” includes a person who is authorised under section 67(9) (inserted by section 67 of the Act of 1980) of the Principal Act to use the fishing engine which is related to the licence;

“holder of a logbook” includes a person who is a holder of the fishing licence to which the logbook relates;

“length” in relation to a sea trout, means the distance measured in a straight line from the tip of the snout to the fork of the tail;

“logbook” means a salmon and sea trout commercial fishing logbook or a salmon and sea trout angler’s logbook;

“other fishing engine” means any fishing engine not being a drift net, a draft net, a snap net or a rod and line, capable of being used for the purpose of taking or fishing for, or attempting to take or to fish for, salmon or sea trout;

“Principal Act” means the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959 (No. 14 of 1959);

“processing” in relation to a wild salmon or sea trout, means—

• (a) smoking, marinating or cooking the fish,

• (b) in the case of a fish tagged with a gill tag, removing the viscera, the head and freezing the fish,

• (c) in the case of a fish tagged with a tail tag, removing the viscera, the tail and freezing the fish, or

• (d) removing the viscera and cutting any steaks, cutlets or other portions of the fish,

and “processed” shall be construed accordingly;

“relevant board” in relation to a fishing licence or a salmon dealer’s licence, means the regional board which issued the licence;

“rod and line” means any rod and line capable of being used for the purpose of taking or fishing for, or attempting to take or fish for, salmon or sea trout;

“salmon and sea trout angler’s logbook” means a logbook in the form set out in Schedule 4 or a form to the like effect;

“salmon and sea trout commercial fishing logbook” means a logbook in the form set out in Schedule 3 or a form to the like effect;

“salmon dealer’s licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 154 (inserted by section 20 of the Act of 1994) of the Principal Act;

“sea trout” means a sea trout over 40 centimetres in length and does not include a farmed sea trout but does include a sea trout which has been released from, or has escaped from, captivity;

“snap net” includes a single wall of netting attached to a floating head rope and a weighted ground rope, designed to suspend between two boats and into which the catch is drawn, for the purpose of taking or fishing for, or attempting to take or to fish for, salmon or sea trout;

“tag” means a gill tag or a tail tag;

“tag removals register” means a register in the form set out in Schedule 7 or a form to the like effect;

“tail tag” means a tail tag as described in Schedule 2;

“wild salmon” does not include a farmed salmon but does include a salmon which has been released from, or has escaped from, captivity.

• (2) In these Regulations, unless otherwise indicated—

• (a) a reference to a Regulation or a Schedule is a reference to a Regulation of, or a Schedule to, these Regulations,

• (b) a reference to a paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs.

Tagging of lawfully taken wild salmon and sea trout

3.

• (2) Any wild salmon or sea trout caught by—

• (a) drift net shall, unless the safety of the fishing boat or its crew is in danger, be tagged in accordance with paragraph (1) on removal from the net, but in any event the fish shall be so tagged before it is removed from the boat on which it is caught, or

• (b) draft net, snap net, rod and line or other fishing engine shall be so tagged immediately on landing the fish.

• (3) A gill tag shall—

• (a) be in force for the year indicated on it,

• (b) in the case of a gill tag to be affixed to a wild salmon or sea trout other than such a fish caught and retained by rod and line, have the name of the fishery district (where applicable) and the fisheries region in which the fish is caught indicated on it,

• (c) bear the tag code and number as specified in the logbook to which it relates,

• (d) be legible, and

• (e) be—

• (i) red, where the wild salmon or sea trout was caught and retained by drift net,

• (ii) green, where the wild salmon or sea trout was caught and retained by draft net,

• (iii) white, where the wild salmon or sea trout was caught and retained by snap net,

• (iv) blue, where the wild salmon or sea trout was caught and retained by rod and line, or

• (v) orange, where the wild salmon or sea trout was caught and retained by other fishing engine.

Distribution of tags to anglers

4.

• (2) The holder of a salmon rod (one day) ordinary licence shall be issued by a distributor with 3 gill tags on receipt of the licence duty in respect of such licence.

• (3) Additional gill tags shall be made available to the licence holder referred to—

• (a) in paragraph (1) in lots of 5, and

• (b) in paragraph (2) in lots of 3,

from any distributor on proof that the licence holder has used the gill tags issued to him or her and has complied with Regulation 3.

• (4) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2) and (3), the holder of a salmon rod ordinary licence shall not be issued with a number of gill tags which is greater than the number of wild salmon or sea trout which he or she may lawfully take with rod and line during the period for which the licence is valid and in force.

• (5) Any gill tag held by the holder of a salmon rod ordinary licence which is lost or accidentally destroyed may be replaced by a distributor on presentation of a signed declaration of loss or destruction made before an authorised officer who is satisfied that the tag is so lost or destroyed.

• (6) In this Regulation “distributor” means the Central Board, a regional board or an authorised agent.

Fishery district committees

5.

• (2) A fishery district committee shall consist of—

• (a) the members of the regional board who are representative of all the commercial fishermen in the fishery district of the committee, and

• (b) a representative of An Bórd Iascaigh Mhara nominated by it.

Quotas for commercial fishing engines

6.

• (a) shall decide the quota applicable to the commercial fishing licence, and

• (b) may decide to vary the quota applicable to the licence from time to time as he or she thinks fit, and

shall inform the holder of the licence of the quota applicable to the licence or any variation of the quota.

• (2) The total sum of quotas decided under paragraph (1) by the Chief Executive Officer of the regional board for the fishery district mentioned in column (1) of Schedule 8 shall not exceed the maximum number of wild salmon or sea trout that may be taken by commercial fishing engines specified in column (2) of that Schedule opposite the mention of that fishery district.

• (3) In accordance with a decision made under paragraph (1)—

• (a) the Chief Executive Officer of the regional board concerned shall cause gill tags to be issued to the holder of the commercial fishing licence concerned and,

• (b) the holder of the commercial fishing licence shall surrender any gill tags to an authorised officer when requested to do so by the Chief Executive Officer.

• (4) Any gill tag held by the holder of a commercial fishing licence, which is lost or accidentally destroyed, may be replaced by the Chief Executive Officer of the relevant board where he or she has been informed immediately of the loss or destruction and is satisfied that the tag is so lost or destroyed.

• (5) Where a Chief Executive Officer issues gill tags under paragraph (3)(a), he or she shall, within the period of 7 days from the issue of the tags, record details of the tag allocation, including information on the date of tag issue, the number of tags and tag codes issued to the holder of the commercial fishing licence concerned and the identifying code number of the licence. He or she shall furnish these details and this information to the Central Fisheries Board.

• (6) In this Regulation “quota” means the maximum number of wild salmon and sea trout which may be lawfully taken by the holder of a commercial fishing licence in a particular fishery district.

Surrender of wild salmon or sea trout where tags or quotas are exhausted

7.

• (2) Where a person being the holder of a commercial fishing licence, captures more fish than he or she has tags in his or her possession, he or she shall cease to fish, and any wild salmon or sea trout taken by him or her before so ceasing shall, if alive and uninjured, be returned immediately to the water. Where the fish cannot be so returned he or she must report this before removing the untagged fish from the boat on which they were caught to the relevant board and surrender the fish to that board on landing. Where the person does not surrender the fish to the regional board, the board may take them.

Safety days

8.

• (a) in the case of a drift net licence holder, allow that person to fish on one of the last 4 Fridays in July,

• (b) in the case of a draft net licence holder, allow that person to fish on one of the last 4 Mondays in July,

• (c) in the case of a snap net licence holder, allow that person to fish on any 2 Mondays in the period between 12 May and 11 June,

and that day shall be construed as a day on which the Salmon and Trout Conservation Bye-law No. 794, 2004 shall operate to permit the use of that kind of fishing engine by that person in that fishery district on that day in accordance with that Bye-law and the Bye-law so construed shall operate accordingly.

Matters relating to Chief Executive Officers

9.

Prohibitions

10 (1) The holder of a salmon rod ordinary licence shall not fish for wild salmon or sea trout if he or she is not in possession of gill tags or he or she has used all gill tags issued to him or her under Regulation 4.

• (2) The holder of a commercial fishing licence shall not fish for wild salmon or sea trout in a fishery district where he or she has taken the number of fish referred to in the quota applicable to the licence under Regulation 6(1) from waters in the district.

• (3) A person shall not remove a tag that is affixed to a wild salmon or sea trout in accordance with these Regulations except at the time the salmon or sea trout is processed.

• (4) A person shall not affix, or have affixed, a tag other than a tag which has been issued to him or her by the Central Board, a regional board or an authorised agent under these Regulations, to any wild salmon or sea trout.

• (5) A person shall not affix a tag to any fish which is not a wild salmon or sea trout.

• (6) A person shall not sell, offer to sell, display, import, export or tranship any wild salmon or sea trout which has not a tag affixed to it in accordance with these Regulations.

• (7) A person shall not have in his or her possession any untagged wild salmon or sea trout which he or she knows, or in the circumstances ought to know, should have a tag affixed to it in accordance with these Regulations.

• (8) A person shall not—

• (a) affix, or have affixed, a tag to a farmed salmon or sea trout, or

• (b) have in his or her possession, sell, offer to sell, display, import, export or tranship any tagged farmed salmon or sea trout which he or she knows, or in the circumstances ought to know, should not have a tag affixed to it.

• (9) A person shall not have in his or her possession any wild salmon or sea trout which he or she knows, or in the circumstances ought to know, was taken in contravention of paragraph (8).

Dealers

• (2) A dealer who imports a wild salmon or sea trout into the State shall—

• (a) notify the relevant board before the fish is imported,

• (b) affix to such fish, within a period which may be specified from time to time by the board, a tail tag issued to him or her under these Regulations by the board by firmly fastening the tag to and securely locking it on the fish as indicated in Schedule 2 so that it cannot be removed without tampering with the lock, breaking or cutting the tag or without cutting or tearing any part of the fish, and

• (c) complete the dealer’s record book in respect of such fish in particular by entering a record of the code and number of the tail tag which he or she affixes to the fish.

• (3) Any tail tag held by a dealer which is lost or accidentally destroyed, may be replaced by the relevant board where the board has been informed immediately of the loss or destruction and is satisfied that the tag is so lost or destroyed.

Issue of logbooks

• (2) A salmon and sea trout angler’s logbook shall be issued by the Central Fisheries Board, the relevant board or an authorised agent to the holder of a salmon rod ordinary licence.

• (3) A logbook shall relate to one fishing licence only.

• (4) The holder of a logbook shall complete the logbook in respect of wild salmon and sea trout captured by him or her.

Obligation on logbook holders to have logbooks whilst fishing

Entries into logbooks

• (a) in a salmon and sea trout commercial fishing logbook, the holder of the logbook shall make an entry before midnight on the day the event occurred,

• (b) in a salmon and sea trout anglers logbook, the holder of the logbook shall make the entry pertaining to that event immediately on securing and affixing the tag to the captured fish.

• (2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), where a wild salmon or a sea trout is sold by or on behalf of the holder of a salmon and sea trout commercial fishing logbook he or she shall enter into the logbook the name and address of the purchaser of the fish.

Surrender of completed logbooks and unused tags to Chief Executive Officers

• (2) The holder of a salmon and sea trout angler’s logbook shall deliver the logbook completed in accordance with these Regulations together with all unused tags issued to him or her under these Regulations to—

• (a) the Chief Executive Officer of the regional board which issued the licence to which the logbook relates, or

• (b) the Chief Executive Officer of the regional board in the fisheries region of which he or she resides,

within a period of 7 days commencing on the day after the last day—

• (i) on which the licence was in force, or

• (ii) of the relevant fishing season,

whichever is the earlier, in the manner set out in the logbook.

• (3) Where delivery for the purposes of paragraph (2) is by post, the holder of the salmon and sea trout angler’s logbook shall obtain a certificate or other proof of posting and shall retain such proof for 12 months.

Reporting lost or destroyed logbooks

Authorised distributors of gill tags and logbooks

• (a) keep them in a secure place,

• (b) enter the code and number of any gill tag being issued to a person in the logbook held by, or being issued to, that person,

• (c) keep and maintain a gill tags issues register to record, in particular, the code and number of any gill tag which he or she issues and the serial number of the logbook in which he or she has entered the said code and number in accordance with paragraph (b),

• (d) enter a record in the gill tags issues register of the code and number of any gill tag (the first and last numbers of a series will suffice) issued to any person and the serial number of the logbook in which he or she has entered the said code and number in accordance with paragraph (b), and

• (e) return all gill tags held in stock to the regional board which issued them no later than 31 October each year or such other day as may be specified from time to time by the board.

• (2) Information kept in a gill tags register by a person referred to in paragraph (1) may also be kept by the person by means of any mechanical or electronic device, whether or not stored, maintained or preserved in a legible form.

• (3) An authorised officer may request a person referred to in paragraph (1) to produce for examination by the officer the gill tags issues register kept and maintained by the person or any extract of it or any gill tags or logbooks in his or her possession.

Non-application to certain matters

• (a) anything done in accordance with section 14 (inserted by section 4 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1962 (No. 31 of 1962)) of the Principal Act, or

• (b) any wild salmon or sea trout lawfully caught and retained by the Central Board, a regional board, the Marine Institute or the Electricity Supply Board other than where it decides to tag any wild salmon or sea trout caught and retained by it, in accordance with these Regulations.

Persons engaged in catering

• (2) This Regulation does not apply to any wild salmon or sea trout which is purchased bona fide by or on behalf of a person for use by the person in his or her own home.

Consequential disqualification orders

Application and revocation

• (2) The Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme Regulations 2003 ( S.I. No. 174 of 2003 ) are revoked.

SCHEDULE 1

Physical description of the gill tag:

Colours, Codes and Number of Gill Tags

Colours

Red	=	Drift net
Green	=	Draft net
White	=	Snap net
Blue	=	Rod and line
Orange	=	Other fishing engine

Country code

I = Ireland

Fisheries Region and Fishery District codes

E = Eastern Region

District (DK = Dundalk, DA = Drogheda, DN = Dublin, WD = Wexford)

S = Southern Region

District (WD = Waterford, LE = Lismore)

SW = South Western Region

District (CK = Cork, KY = Kerry)

SH = Shannon Region

No fishery district code required.

W = Western Region

District (GY = Galway, CA = Connemara, BL = Ballinakill)

NW = North Western Region

District (BR = Bangor, BA = Ballina, SO = Sligo)

N = Northern Region

District (BN = Ballyshannon, LY = Letterkenny)

Blue tags shall not bear a fishery district code.

Year code

The year code shall be the last two digits of the year.

Security code

A two digit security code shall be added to the tags.

Number

Numbers shall be from 1 to the estimated maximum allocation.

For example, a drift net caught fish recorded in the Ballina district in the year 2002 should be identifiable from its tag as follows:

Tag colour red, code INWBA02XX and number between 1 and the maximum.

Other optional details

The words “Fisheries Boards” and a bar code may be printed on the tag.

SCHEDULE 2

Physical description of the tail tag:

Colours, Codes and Numbers for Tail Tags

Colours

Yellow

Country code

I = Ireland

Fisheries Region code

E	=	Eastern Region
S	=	Southern Region
SW	=	South Western Region
SH	=	Shannon Region
W	=	Western Region
NW	=	North Western Region
N	=	Northern Region

Year code

The year code shall be the last two digits of the year.

Security code

A two digit security code shall be added to the tags.

Number

Numbers shall be from 1 to the expected maximum allocation.

For example, an imported fish recorded in the Northern Region in the year 2002 should be identifiable from its tag as follows:

Tag colour yellow, code IN02XX and number between 1 and the maximum

Other optional details

The words “Fisheries Boards” and a bar code may be printed on the tag.

SCHEDULE 3 Regional Fisheries Boards

Salmon and Sea Trout Commercial Fishing Logbook

Issuing Board: ____________

Log Book Number: ________

Year: _____________

Details of Commercial Licence Holder

Licence Holder

Surname: __________

Given Names: ____________

Address: __________

---

Licence holder’s nominee

Surname: __________

Given Names: ____________

Address: __________

---

Licensed fishing method: ___________

District to be fished as per licence: _________

Identification number of licence: ___________

Type of fishing vessel and registration number: ______

Record of Gill Tags Issues

Date of Issue	Number of tags issued	Codes and numbers of issued tags	Issuing officer’s name & initials

Record of Gill Tags Lost

• See note

Date of declaration	Number of lost tags	Codes and numbers of lost tags	Certifying officer’s name & initials

• Gill tags which are lost or accidentally destroyed, may be replaced by the Chief Executive Officer of the regional board where he or she has been informed immediately of the loss or destruction and is satisfied that the tags are so lost or destroyed.

Record of Gill Tags Returned

Date of declaration	Number of returned tags	Codes and numbers of returned tags	Certifying officer’s name & initials

Daily Fishing Effort and Catch Record

Date:_____(dd/mm/yy)

Time commenced fishing	Time completed fishing	Number of salmon captured and tagged	Number of sea trout captured and tagged	Port/Pier at which fish landed
AM/PM^*	AM/PM^*

• Please delete AM or PM as appropriate or use the 24 hour clock.

Certified Correct: ____________

(licence holder or nominee signature)

Daily Disposal of Captured Fish

Date of disposal (dd/mm/yy)	Name & address of salmon dealer/hotel/guest house/ restaurant/other purchaser or domestic consumption	Number of fish	Number of fish
		Salmon	Sea trout

Certified Correct: ____________

(Licence holder or nominee signature)

SCHEDULE 4 Central Fisheries Board and Regional Fisheries Boards

Salmon and Sea Trout Angler’s Logbook

Year: ___

(Details of salmon rod ordinary licence to be entered here)

Record of Gill Tags

Date (dd/mm/yy)	Issued (give quantity)	Lost (give quantity)	Returned (give quantity)	Tag Codes and Numbers (give first and last in sequence)	Authorised Agent	Authorised Agent Signature

Fishing and Catch Record

	Date (dd/mm/yy)	River/ Lake/ Beat	County	Species (tick box)	Species (tick box)	Weight lbs/kgs (delete as appropriate)	Lure	Tag Code and Number (enter R if fish released)	For official use only
				Salmon	Sea Trout
1.
2.
etc.

Please record lure using the following codes: Fly (F), Spinner (S), Worm (W), Prawn/Shrimp (P), Other (O).

Certified correct: __________

(Licence holder’s signature)

Total days fished (including those when no fish were caught)________

SCHEDULE 5 Gill Tags Issues Register

Serial No. TG____to TG ______

Year ___________

Fisheries region _________

Issuing regional board or authorised agent: _________

Agent Code ______________

Date	Licence number (please include letter prefix)	Name of licence holder	Number of gill tags issued	Codes and numbers of gill tags (give first and last in sequence)	Name of issuer (initials will suffice)

SCHEDULE 6 Imported Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Dealer’s Record Book

Serial No. TG__to ___

Year ____________

Dealer Licence Number: __________

Dealer Name: ____________

Dealer Address:___________

Date of Import	Time of Import	Supplier	Number of fish notified to regional board	Number of fish imported and tagged	Codes and numbers of tail tags affixed to fish

SCHEDULE 7 Gill and Tail Tag Removal Register

Serial No. TR____to ___

Year ____________

Dealer Licence Number: __________

Dealer Name: ____________

Dealer Address:___________

Date of Tag Removal	Tag Code and Number	Tag Colour	Species (if sea trout please tick box)

SCHEDULE 8

Fishery district	Maximum number of wild salmon or sea trout that may be taken by commercial fishing engines
(1)	(2)
Dublin	542
Wexford	1,933
Waterford	12,113
Lismore	9,303
Cork	22,425
Kerry	27,644
Limerick	12,145
Galway	4,115
Connemara	2,877
Ballinakill	6,436
Bangor	5,768
Ballina	21,797
Sligo	4,964
Ballyshannon	9,620
Letterkenny	16,272
Dundalk	1,202
Drogheda	2,795
---	---
	GIVEN under my hand, 7th April, 2004.
	JOHN BROWNE,
	Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These regulations provide for a scheme of carcass tagging for wild salmon and sea trout taken by the holders of salmon fishing licences or imported into the State by salmon dealers and for quotas in each of the 17 fishery districts for the taking of wild salmon and sea trout by commercial fishing engines.