S.I. No. 209/2007 - Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (Brown Tags) Regulations 2007

S.I. No. 209 of 2007

Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (Brown Tags) Regulations 2007

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 and Natural Resources (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2002 (S.I. No. 307 of 2002)), the Marine (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2006 (S.I. No. 82 of 2006) and the Marine (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) (No. 4) Order 2006 (S.I. No. 543 of 2006), and having complied with the requirements of Regulation 31 of the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 94 of 1997), hereby make the following regulations:

Citation

1.         (1)        These Regulations may be cited as the Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (Brown Tags) Regulations 2007.

(2)        These Regulations come into operation on 13 May 2007.

Definitions

2.         (1)        In these Regulations -

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

“brown tag” means a gill tag described in Schedule 2;

“CEO” means chief executive officer;

“distributor” in relation to the issuing of brown tags, means the Central Board, a regional board, an authorised agent (within the meaning of section 70(1) of the Principal Act) or the owner, occupier or manager of a private or several fishery;

“gill tags issues register” means a register in the form set out in Schedule 5 to the Regulations of 2006 kept and maintained under Regulation 18 of those Regulations;

“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;

“licence” means salmon rod ordinary licence;

“logbook” means salmon and sea trout angler's logbook;

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

“Regulations of 2006” means Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (No. 2) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 672 of 2006);

“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 log book in the form set out in Schedule 4 to the Regulations of 2006 issued to the holder of a licence under Regulation 13(2) of those Regulations;

“salmon” means fish of the species Salmo salar ( Atlantic Salmon );

“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;

“tag removals register” means a register in the form set out in Schedule 7 to the Regulations of 2006;

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

Application

3.         These Regulations apply to the rivers mentioned in column (2) of Schedule 1 opposite mention of the fishery districts in column (2) of Schedule 1.

Tagging of lawfully taken wild salmon and sea trout with brown tags

4.         (1)        In addition to the tagging requirements of the Regulations of 2006 where a person lawfully catches and retains a wild salmon or sea trout by rod and line, he or she shall affix to the fish a brown tag issued to him or her under these Regulations by -

(a)        attaching it through the gill opening and mouth of the fish and securely locking it around the gill cover so that the code and number of the tag face outwards, and

(b)        ensuring the tag is firmly fastened and securely locked to the fish so that it cannot be removed without tampering with the lock, breaking or cutting the tag or cutting or tearing any part of the fish.

(2)        Any wild salmon or sea trout caught by rod and line shall be in accordance with paragraph (1) tagged immediately on landing the fish.

Issue by CEO of regional board of notice and brown tags to distributors

5.         (1)        The CEO of a regional board shall issue a notice to distributors in its fisheries region in respect of the issue of brown tags for the rivers to which these Regulations apply in its fisheries region specifying the procedures to be followed in relation to the issuing of brown tags, entries into logbooks, registers, return of brown tags, replacement of brown tags and issue of second and subsequent brown tags under these Regulations. The notice shall be published in at least one newspaper circulating in the fisheries region of the regional board and by such other means as the CEO considers appropriate.

(2)        Subject to paragraph (3), the CEO of a regional board shall issue to distributors in its fisheries region sufficient brown tags to meet the estimated demand in any month for a river in the fisheries region of the board subject to the overall quota for the river under the Regulations of 2006.

(3)        The CEO of a regional board shall not issue more than 25 per cent of total number of brown tags available for any river to distributors at any one time.

(4)        The CEO of a regional board shall ensure that brown tags are issued sequentially and for specified periods to distributors for issue to licence holders in relation to each river in a fishery district of its fisheries region.

(5)        The CEO of a regional board may require distributors to return unused tags at the end of the period for which they were issued before issuing a distributor with a further allocation of brown tags.

(6)        The CEO of a regional board may perform any of his or her functions under this Regulation through or by any of the board's officers or employees or any other person duly authorised by the board in that behalf.

Distribution of brown tags to anglers

6.         (1)        Subject to paragraph (2), the holder of a licence shall be issued by a distributor with such number of brown tags as are in accordance with the instructions, contained in a notice under Regulation 5(1), of the CEO of the regional board in whose fisheries region the distributor is located.

(2)        The holder of a licence shall not be issued with a number of brown 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 in force.

(3)        Any brown tag held by the holder of a 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 lost or destroyed.

Quotas of brown tags

7.         The total number of brown tags that may be issued under these Regulations in respect of a river to which these Regulations apply shall not exceed the maximum number of salmon or sea trout that may be taken from the river as specified in Schedule 8 to the Regulations of 2006.

Prohibitions

8.         (1)        A person shall not affix, or have affixed, a tag which is brown in colour other than a brown tag, which has been issued to him or her under these Regulations, to any wild salmon or sea trout.

(2)        A person shall not re-use a brown tag which has been affixed to a fish.

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

(4)        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 brown tag affixed to it in accordance with these Regulations.

Entries into logbooks

9.         (1)        Where a wild salmon or sea trout is captured in a river to which these regulations apply by the holder of a licence, the holder shall make an entry of the event in his or her logbook immediately upon the capture of the fish.

(2)        Where an event has occurred in respect of which it is appropriate to make an entry in a logbook, the holder of the logbook shall make the entry pertaining to that event immediately on securing and affixing the brown tag to the captured fish.

Distributors of gill tags and logbooks

10.       (1)      A distributor who has possession of brown tags for issue to the holder of a licence shall -

(a)        keep them in a secure place,

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

(c)        enter in the gill tags issues register kept and maintained by the distributor a record of the code and number of any brown 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 code and number in accordance with paragraph (b), and

(d)        return all brown tags held in stock to the regional board which issued them in accordance with a notice issued under Regulation 5(1) by the CEO of the regional board within whose fisheries region the distributor is located not later than 31 October each year or such other day as may be specified from time to time by the board.

(2)        A distributor shall not issue a second or subsequent brown tag without ensuring that an entry has been made in the logbook concerned in respect of the brown tag previously issued.

(3)        A licence holder shall return any brown tags, which were not used within the specified period to the distributor that issued them within 2 weeks of the expiry of the validity of the tag.

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

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

Non-application to certain matters

11.       These Regulations do not apply to -

(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.

Consequential disqualification order

12.       It is declared that section 90(3) (inserted by section 51 of the Fisheries Act 1980 (No. 1 of 1980) and as amended by section 4 of the Act of 2000) of the Principal Act applies to the offences under section 24(6) (inserted by section 3(a)(i) of the Act of 2000) of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1999 (No. 35 of 1999) in respect of a failure to comply with Regulation 4 or a contravention of Regulation 8.

Amendment of Regulations of 2006

13.       (1)        Regulation 10(3) of the Regulations of 2006 is amended by inserting “or the Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (Brown Tags) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No.___ of 2007)” after “these Regulations”.

(2)        Schedule 8 to the Regulations of 2006 is amended in column (3) opposite the mention of the river Corrib in column (2) by substituting “788” for “375”.

SCHEDULE 1

Rivers to which brown tags apply

SCHEDULE 2

Brown tags

Description of a brown tag:

The tag shall be -

(a)       light brown or beige in colour,

(b)       made of plastic and bear a locking device, and

(c)       at least 0.5 centimetres in width and at least 18 centimetres in length with printed details as specified below.

Details, Codes, Names and Numbers for brown tags:

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)

Names

The tag shall bear the name of the river to which it relates.

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.

Optional detail:

“Fisheries Board” may be printed on the tag.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

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

These regulations provide for among other things a system of brown tags for the tagging of wild salmon and sea trout for anglers in the rivers listed in schedule 1 of the regulations. The provisions of these regulations are in addition to those contained in the Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (No 2) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 672 of 2006).