Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1862
(25 & 26 Vict.) C A P. XCVII.
[7th August 1862]
'WHEREAS it is expedient that the Acts relating to the Salmon Fisheries inScotland should be amended, and that further Provision should be made for the Regulation of Fisheries, the Removal of Obstructions, and the Prevention of illegal fishing:' Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
1 Short Title.
1. This Act may be cited for all Purposes as ‘TheSalmon Fisheries (Scotland ) Act, 1862.’
2 Interpretation of Terms.
2. The following Words and Expressions in this Act shall have the Meanings hereby assigned to them, unless such Meanings be repugnant to or inconsistent with the Context:
‘Commissioners’ shall mean the Commissioners appointed and acting under the Authority of this Act for the Time being:
‘Clerk’ shall mean the Clerk to be appointed by any District Board:
‘Sherif’ shall mean the Sheriff of the County inScotland of which he is Sheriff, and shall include Sheriffs Substitute:
‘Justice’ or ‘Justices’ shall mean any Justice or Justices of the Peace acting for the County, City, or Burgh where the Matter requiring the Cognizance of such Justice or Justices shall arise:
‘Secretary of Sate’ shall mean One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State:
‘Proprietor’ or ‘Proprietors’ shall mean and include any Person, Company, or Corporation who is the Proprietor of a Salmon Fishery, or who receives or is entitled to receive the Rents of such Fishery on his or their own Account, or as Trustee, Guardian, or Factor for any Person, Company, or Corporation, and shall also include Her Majesty in right of Her Crown:
‘Byelaw’ and ‘Byelaws’ shall include all Rules, Orders, and Regulations made by the Commissioners under the Authority of this Act:
‘Salmon’ shall mean and include Salmon, Grilse, Sea Trout, Bull Trout, Smolts, Parr, and other migratory Fish of the Salmon Kind:
‘Fisheries’ and ‘Fishery’ shall mean Salmon Fisheries and a Salmon Fishery in any River or Estuary or in the Sea:
‘River’ shall include Tributaries and any Lake from or through which any River flows:
‘Valuation Roll’ shall mean the Valuation Roll in force for the Time for any County, and each of the Royal Burghs therein, made up under the Authority of the Public General Act Seventeenth and EighteenthVictoria , Chapter Ninety-one, or any other Act relating to the Valuation of Lands and Heritages in Scotland which may be in force for the Time.
3 Commencement of Act.
3. The Enactments and Provisions of this Act with respect to the Appointment, Powers, and Duties of the Commissioners, and the Election, Powers, and Duties of District Boards, shall come into operation and take effect from and after the passing of this Act, and all the other Enactments and Provisions of this Act shall come into operation and take effect from and after the First Day ofJanuary One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
4 Each River and Estuary, and the Seacoasts adjoining,to be a District.
4. Each River inScotland flowing into the Sea, and every tributary Stream or Lake flowing into or connected with such River, and the Mouth or Estuary of such River, and the Seacoasts adjoining thereto, divided into such Portions as may be fixed and defined by the Commissioners under the Authority of this Act, shall form a District for the Purposes of this Act.
5 Commissioners to be appointed by Secretary of State.
5. It shall be lawful for the Secretary of State to appoint Three Commissioners for the Purposes of this Act, who shall be paid at such Rate, not exceeding Three Poundsper Day each, as the Commissioners of the Treasury may direct, the whole Amount to be received by each Commissioner not exceeding Three hundred and fifty Pounds per Annum , over and above such Travelling Expenses as the Commissioners of the Treasury may sanction: Provided that the Duration of the Office of such Commissioners shall in no Case extend beyond Three Years.
6 Duties of Commissioners.
6. The Commissioners shall have the Powers and perform the Duties herein-after specified; that is to say,
(1) (1.) To fix and define, for the Purposes of this Act and the other Acts relating to Salmon and Salmon Fisheries in Scotland , the natural Limits which divide each River in Scotland (including the Estuary thereof) from the Sea, in so far as the same may not be already fixed by Statute or by judicial Decision:
(2) (2.) To fix, for the Purposes of this Act, the Limits of the Solway Firth , having regard to an Act passed in the Forty-fourth Year of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Third, Chapter Forty-five:
(3) (3.) To fix, for the Purposes of this Act, the Limits of every District, and the Portions of the Seacoast adjoining to the Mouth or Estuary of any River to be included in such District:
(4) (4.) To fix, for the Purposes of this Act, a Point on each River (including the Estuary thereof) below which the Proprietors of Fisheries shall be Lower Proprietors, and above which the Proprietors of Fisheries shall be Upper Proprietors:
(5) (5.) To determine, subject to the Provisions of this Act, at what Dates the Annual Close Time for every District shall commence and terminate, and at what Periods subsequent to the Commencement and prior to the Termination of the Annual Close Time it shall be lawful to fish for and take Salmon with the Rod and Line: Provided that the Number of Days during which such Annual Close Time shall continue shall be the same as regards every District:
(6) (6.) To make general Regulations with respect to the following Matters; viz. ,
The due Observance of the Weekly Close Time:
The Construction and Use of Cruives:
The Construction and Alteration of Mill Dams, or Lades, or Water Wheels, so as to afford a reasonable Means for the Passage of Salmon:
The Meshes of Nets (so that they shall not intercept Smolts or Salmon Fry):
Obstructions in Rivers or Estuaries to the Passage of Salmon:
Provided that such Regulations shall not interfere with any Rights held at the Time of the passing of this Act under Royal Grant or Charter, or possessed for Time immemorial.
7 Annual and Weekly Close Time.
7. The Annual Close Time for every District shall continue for One hundred and sixty-eight Days; and the Weekly Close Time, except for Rod and Line, shall continue from the Hour of Six of the Clock onSaturday Night to the Hour of Six of the Clock on Monday Morning; but the Commissioners shall have Power, on the Application of the District Board, or of any Two Proprietors of Fisheries in any District, to vary the Period at which the Weekly Close Time shall commence in any District or any Part thereof, in so far as they may think reasonable or expedient: Provided that such Weekly Close Time shall in no Case be less than Thirty-six Hours.
8 Application of Annual Close Time.
8. The Annual Close Time shall be applicable to every Mode of fishing for or taking Salmon in any River, Lake, or Estuary, or in the Sea, except by means of the Rod and Line for the Periods in each District to be fixed by the Commissioners subsequent to the Commencement and prior to the Termination of the Annual Close Time during which it shall be lawful to fish for and take Salmon by means of the Rod and Line.
9 Present Annual Close Times to subsist until alteredunder this Act.
9. In regard to any River and Estuary which are regulated by any Local Act relating thereto the Annual Close Time fixed by such Act, and in regard to all other Rivers, Estuaries, and Seacoasts inScotland the Annual Close Time fixed by the Public General Act Ninth George the Fourth, Chapter Thirty-nine, shall respectively be applicable until the Annual Close Time with respect to any such River, Estuary, or Seacoast shall be otherwise determined by any Byelaw made by the Commissioners under the Authority of this Act.
10 Fishing illegal where prohibited by existing Acts.
10. It shall not be lawful to fish for or take Salmon at any Place or by any Mode prohibited by any Statute relating to Salmon or Salmon Fisheries inScotland subsisting and in force at the Date of the passing of this Act; and nothing contained in this Act or in any Byelaw made by the Commissioners shall render legal an Mode of fishing which was or would have been illegal at the Date of the passing of this Act.
11 Penalties for Offences.
11. Every Person who commits any of the following Offences shall for every such Offence be liable to a Penalty not exceeding Five Pounds, and to a further Penalty not exceeding Two Pounds for every Salmon taken or killed contrary to the Provisions of this Act, or of any Byelaw made by the Commissioners under the Authority of this Act; and shall, in addition to such Penalties, at the Discretion of the Magistrate, forfeit every Boat, Net, Rod, Line, or other Article which has been or may be used in fishing for or taking Salmon, and which is found in the Possession of such Person at the Time of the committing such Offence; that is to say,
Every Person who fishes for or takes Salmon during the Annual Close Time by any Means other than the Rod and Line:
Every Person who fishes for or takes Salmon, except duringSaturday or Monday , by Rod and Line, during the...
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