2 Edw. VII.
Fisheries
Act
1902.
1003
No. 119.
ACT No.
CXIX., 1902.
An Act to
remodel the law relating to the Fisheries of New South Wales ; to substitute for
the Commissioners of Fisheries a board to be called the Board of Fisheries for
New South Wales to repeal the various Acts relating to the fisheries and fishing
in tidal and inland waters and to fishing-nets and other instruments for the
capture of fish, the promotion of oyster culture and the regulation of
oyster-fisheries, and to make better provision in relation thereto ; to provide
for the leasing in certain cases of Crown lands below high-water mark and in
inland waters for the establishment of.fisheries; for the leasing for
oyster-culture of Crown lands in or abutting on tidal waters ; for regulating
the weights or dimensions of marketable fishes, including oysters, crayfish, and
prawns ; for the improvement of the supply of fish to consumers; the promotion
and development of the industry of fishing ; and for other purposes connected
with or incidental to the matters aforesaid.
[Assented to, 29th December, 1902.]
BE
it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
con3ent of the Legislative Council and Legislative
Assembly of
New South
Wales in
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows :—
PART I.
Preliminary.
1. (1)
This Act
may be
cited as the
"Fisheries Act, shon
title and 1902," and is divided into Parts, as follows:— PART I.—Preliminary—ss.
1-3. PART II.—Administration—ss.
4-10. PART III.—Net and line
fishing—ss. 11-32. 2 Edw. VII. …….
22.
The setting of any net, netting, brushwood, or other substance across
or within
any bay, inlet, river, or creek,
or f across or around any fiat, in tidal or
inland waters, in such a manner that fish enclosed thereby are, or may be left,
stranded, or that immature
fish may
be destroyed
thereby, is hereby
declared to be an offence under this Act.
It shall
be unlawful to place, set, or use in inland waters an}' trap or device enclosed
with wire or wire netting with wings so attached as to impede the free passage
of fish on either side of the trap or device, and any person found offending
against this section shall be liable to a penal of not exceeding two pounds, and
such trap or device and wings shall be forfeited.
23.
(1) If any person shall without lawful authority have : in his
possession, or on his premises, or in his boat, or shall sell or consign for
sale, any fish of any of the species mentioned
in i the Second Schedule hereto of a less weight or size than that set i
opposite the name of such fish in such Schedule, or prescribed by any
regulation, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding two pounds for the
first offence, and for the second or any subsequent offence to a penalty not
exceeding five pounds.
(2)
All such underweight and
undersize fish, shall be forfeited and be disposed of in accordance with the
regulations.
(3)
Any inspector may seize any fish which are liable to forfeiture
under this section, and take the same before any justice, or any officer
or person authorised by the board in that behalf who, upon test thereof, shall
declare whether or not such fish are under weight or under size, and if he
declare them to be so, shall order them to be forfeited
and to be disposed of in
accordance with the regulations.
(4) The
provisions of this section shall not apply to any curator of a museum or
zoological collector holding a permit from the board, or to a member of the
board, or any inspector, or to any aboriginal taking or being in possession of fish for his own
consumption.
(5) If any person shall at any time either sell, or cause to be sold, or shall cffer or expose for sale, or shall have in his possession or control for purposes of sale any fish known as or called the ' Crayfish " of a size less than that prescribed in the Second Schedule, or any female of such fish of whatsoever size having eggs or spawn attached beneath its body, or which has been captured wit':: eggs or spawn so attached, he shall, upon conviction, forfeit and pay for every such -offence a penalty or sum not exceeding five pounds.