PART VII.

Regulations as to Nets.

91. —(1) If any person—

(a) makes use of or fishes with any net formed with a false bottom (except nets for the taking of eels), or

(b) places two or more nets one behind the other, or

(c) uses any nets covered with canvas, hide, or other substance for the purpose of taking undersized fish, or

(d) affixes or keeps up continued nets stretched across any river,

such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

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

92. —(1) In this section, the expression “net to which this section applies” means any net or other engine which is not formed of a rigid material and which is used for the taking of salmon.

(2) If, on any part of the coast or within any bay, estuary or tideway thereof, any person (other than the proprietor of the whole of the fishery of the river flowing into such bay, estuary or tideway, from the mouth to the source thereof, including its tributary streams) uses any net to which this section applies with a mesh of less size than one and three-quarter inches from knot to knot, to be measured along the side of the square, or seven inches to be measured all round each such mesh, such measurement being taken in the clear when the net is wet, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(3) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section, the net in respect of which the offence was committed shall, as a statutory consequence of conviction, stand forfeited.

(4) The Minister may by bye-law, alter, in respect of any particular district or locality, the size, specified in subsection (2) of this section, of the mesh of any net to which this section applies and permit the use, in that district or locality, of nets to which this section applies having meshes of a less size than that specified in the said subsection (2).

(5) Where a bye-law made under subsection (4) of this section alters, in respect of any district or locality, the size, specified in subsection (2) of this section, of the mesh of any net to which this section applies and permits the use, in that district or locality, of a net to which this section applies having a mesh of a less size, subsection (2) of this section shall, in its application to that district or locality, have effect as if, for the reference to a mesh of the size specified in the said subsection (2), there were substituted a reference to a mesh of the size permitted to be used by such bye-law.

93. —(1) In this section the expression “engine to which this section applies” means any engine which is formed of a rigid material and used for the taking of salmon.

(2) If, on any part of the coast or within any bay, estuary or tideway thereof, any person (other than the proprietor of the whole of the fishery of the river flowing into such bay, estuary or tideway from the mouth to the source thereof, including its tributary streams) uses any engine to which this section applies with meshes or openings of less width than three inches on each side of the square, and, where no meshes or openings of the nature of reticulations are used, of less width between the bars than two inches, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

(3) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section, the engine in respect of which the offence was committed shall, as a statutory consequence of conviction, stand forfeited.

94. —(1) It shall not be lawful for any person (other than the owner of a several fishery within the limits thereof) to shoot, draw, or use any net for taking salmon at the mouth of any river or within half a mile seaward or half a mile inwards or along the coast from the mouth of any river.

(2) It shall not be lawful for any person (other than the owner of a several fishery in the whole of a river and its tributaries within the limits of such several fishery) to shoot, draw, or stretch any net entirely across the mouth or across any other part of a river.

(3) If any person contravenes any of the preceding subsections of this section, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine of not less than one pound and not more than ten pounds and a further fine of five shillings for every fish taken by means of any net used in the commission of the offence.

(4) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section every net in respect of which the offence was committed shall, as a statutory consequence of conviction, stand forfeited.

(5) Where an order under this Act defines the mouth of any tributary river, references in the preceding subsections of this section to the mouth of any river shall be construed as including references to the mouth of such tributary river.

95. —(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to use any net for the capture of fish in the freshwater portion of any river or in any freshwater lake, unless—

(a) such net is used under and in accordance with bye-laws made under this section, or

(b) such net is a landing net and is used solely as auxiliary to lawful fishing with rod and line, or

(c) such net is used solely for the purpose of removing fish from traps in a weir, or

(d) such net is constructed for the capture of eels.

(2) If any person uses any net in contravention of this section such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.

(3) The Minister may by bye-law authorise the use, subject to such conditions as he thinks proper, in any specified area in the freshwater portion of any river or in any freshwater lake, of any kind or kinds of net which may be lawfully used for the capture of fish, other than salmon, trout or eels, under this Act.

(4) (a) Where—

(i) an application is made to the Minister to permit the use of draft nets for the capture of trout in a specified freshwater lake exceeding thirty square miles in area, and

(ii) the applicant furnishes the Minister with the consent in writing of every owner of a several fishery in the lake, and

(iii) the applicant satisfies the Minister that within twenty years before the 1st day of January, 1948, nets were used as of right in the lake for the capture of trout by members of the public who depended on such netting as a means of livelihood,

the Minister, if he thinks fit, may make bye-laws permitting the use of draft nets for such capture, subject to such conditions as he thinks proper.

(b) Where bye-laws under this subsection are for the time being in force in relation to waters vested in the Electricity Supply Board, nothing in any enactment shall be construed as prohibiting the Board from permitting the use of draft nets in such waters in accordance with the bye-laws.

(c) The Minister may, if he thinks fit, cause a public inquiry to be held into the desirability of making a particular bye-law under this subsection and for this purpose may appoint an officer of the Minister to hold such inquiry.

(d) The Minister shall cause to be given, in accordance with section 322, notice of the holding of an inquiry under this subsection.

96. —(1) If any person has in his possession or control in any waters or on or near the bank of any waters—

(a) any net, the use of which in such waters for the purpose of taking fish is prohibited by any provision (other than section 95) of this Act or by any bye-law made thereunder, or

(b) any instrument (other than a net) or lure or bait, the use of which in such waters for the purpose of taking fish is prohibited by any provision of this Act or by any bye-law made thereunder,

such person shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection.

(2) If any person has in his possession or control in, or in the vicinity of, a freshwater lake or the freshwater portion of any river any net constructed or mounted so as to be capable of being used for the capture of fish with intent to use it in contravention of section 95, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this subsection.

(3) Any person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) or (2) of this section 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 any term not exceeding six months.

(4) Where a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) or (2) of this section, the net, other instrument, lure or bait in respect of which the offence was committed shall, as a statutory consequence of conviction, stand forfeited.

(5) Where—

(a) a person is charged with an offence under subsection (2) of this section in relation to the possession or control of a net, and

(b) it is proved that he was found in possession or control of such net in, or in the vicinity of, a freshwater lake or the freshwater portion of any river,

it shall be presumed that he had the possession or control of such net with intent to use it in such freshwater lake or the freshwater portion of such river in contravention of section 95, unless and until he satisfies the Court that, at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed,—

(i) he intended and was entitled to use such net in a manner which comes within one of the matters of exception mentioned, in relation to a net of a similar kind, in subsection (1) of section 95 or, if such net is a draft net, in a manner which is permitted by bye-laws made under subsection (4) of section 95, or

(ii) if he was found in possession or control of such net in the vicinity of the boundary between the tidal and freshwater portions of such river, he was the holder of a licence to use such net in the fishery district in which such river is situate and intended and was entitled to use such net in the tidal portion of such river.