Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1999

PART 3

Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme

Management of wild salmon and sea trout.

24.—(1) The Minister may, after consultation with the National Salmon Commission, make regulations to provide for a scheme for the management, development and conservation of stocks of wild salmon and sea trout and in particular to provide for the gathering of information by the tagging of such fish.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations under that subsection may provide for all or any of the following:

(a) the manner, type, size and colour of tags which are to be affixed to wild salmon and sea trout,

(b) the information to be contained on such tags,

(c) the issue and distribution by persons of tags and log books to persons fishing for wild salmon or sea trout,

(d) matters relating to the sale, display, import, export and transhipment of wild salmon and sea trout or farmed salmon.

(e) log books to be kept and the manner of their keeping by persons fishing for wild salmon or sea trout,

(f) records to be kept by persons selling or dealing in salmon,

(g) registers to be kept by persons providing such tags or log books,

(h) the inspection by authorised officers of such tags, log books, registers and records,

(i) the furnishing of such information on tags, log books, registers and records as may be requested by an authorised officer,

(j) fees to be charged in respect of the issue of any such tag or log book,

(k) information in relation to any scheme under this section to be provided by the Central Board or a regional board to the Minister.

(3) The powers conferred by subsection (1) are in addition to and not in substitution for the powers conferred by section 9 of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act, 1959 .

(4) For the purpose of enforcing any regulations made under this section, an authorised officer may—

(a) stop and question any person who has or is suspected of having in his or her possession any tag or log book issued, or record kept, under regulations made under this section or any salmon and request the production of and examine such tag, log book, record or salmon and search any person whom he or she has reason to believe has contravened any regulations made under this section,

(b) at all reasonable times, enter and search any place or premises or boat or vehicle in which the officer believes there is any tag or log book issued, or a register maintained, or record kept, under regulations made under this section or any salmon and there examine any such tag, log book, register, record or salmon and take copies of or extracts from any log book, register or record, found therein,

(c) where he or she finds any wild salmon or sea trout which has not been tagged in accordance with regulations made under this section, the officer may in accordance with such regulations tag the fish or remove any tags affixed to it which do not comply with such regulations or require the person found in possession of the fish or in charge of the place, premises, boat or vehicle where it is found to tag, or cause it to be tagged, in accordance with such regulations or to remove or cause to be removed any tags affixed to it which do not comply with any such regulations,

(d) take, remove and detain in his or her custody any tag, log book, register or record found in the course of the exercise of any of the powers conferred by this section in respect of which a contravention of any regulation made under this section is being or is suspected of having been committed,

(e) request and take the name and address of the person having custody of any tag, log book, register, record or salmon which the officer is authorised under this section to examine.

(5) A person who obstructs or interferes with, or fails to comply with a requirement of, an authorised officer in exercise of any power conferred on the officer under this section or refuses to give his or her name and address when required under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500.

(6) Regulations under this section may provide—

(a) that a person who contravenes or fails to comply with any regulation or provision thereof made under this section shall be guilty of an offence, and

(b) for penalties for such a contravention or failure to comply of, on summary conviction, a fine not exceeding £1,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or both.

(7) Whenever the Minister proposes to make regulations under this section, the following provisions shall have effect—

(a) the Minister shall publish notice of his or her proposal at least once in such newspaper or newspapers published and circulating in the State as he or she may specify,

(b) the notice shall include a statement of the purposes for which the regulations are proposed to be made and an intimation that a copy of the draft regulations is open for public inspection at a place specified in the notice and that any person may submit to the Minister objections to the draft regulations at any time during the period of 30 days commencing on the day of the first publication of the notice,

(c) the Minister shall, during the said period of 30 days, keep a copy of the draft regulations open for public inspection at the place aforesaid,

(d) any person who objects to the draft regulations may submit his or her objection to the Minister in writing at any time during the said period of 30 days and the Minister shall consider the objections, and

(e) on the expiration of the said period of 30 days, the Minister shall, as he or she may think proper, refrain from making the regulations or make the regulations either without modifications or with such modifications therein as he or she may think proper.

(8) In this section—

“authorised officer” means—

(a) an officer of the Minister, appointed in writing by the Minister to be an authorised officer for the purposes of this section, or

(b) any person, whether or not he or she is an officer of a regional board, appointed in writing by a regional board to be an authorised officer for the purposes of this section;

“sea trout” means a wild sea trout Salmo trutta;

“wild salmon” means wild Atlantic salmon Salmo salar.