Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1997

Aquaculture licences.

7.—(1) Subject to section 8 , the licensing authority may, if satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so, license a person, at a place or in waters specified in the licence, to engage in aquaculture or such operations in relation to aquaculture, and subject to such conditions, as it thinks fit and specifies in the licence.

(2) A licence may be granted notwithstanding the existence of any public right to fish in any waters to which the licence relates.

(3) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), conditions to which an aquaculture licence may be subject may include or relate to any or all of the following:

(a) a specification, by means of a map or otherwise, of the boundaries or limits of the place or waters in relation to which the licence is granted;

(b) the amount of feed inputs;

(c) annual or seasonal limits on stock inputs, outputs and standing stock on site;

(d) operational practices, including the fallowing of sites;

(e) the reporting of incidences of disease and the presence of parasites;

(f) the disposal of dead fish;

(g) measures for preventing escapes of fish, and arrangements for the reporting of escapes;

(h) monitoring and inspection of the aquaculture carried on pursuant to the licence;

(i) the keeping of records by the licensee;

(j) the protection of the environment (including the man-made environment of heritage value) and the control of discharges;

(k) appropriate environmental, water quality and biological monitoring.