Fisheries (Oyster, Crab, and Lobster) Act 1877

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1877 c. 42


Fisheries (Oyster, Crab, and Lobster) Act, 1877

(40 & 41 Vict.) CHAPTER 42.

An Act to amend the Law relating to the Fisheries of Oysters, Crabs, and Lobsters, and other Sea Fisheries.

[10th August 1877]

B E 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:

Preliminary.

Preliminary.

S-1 Short title.

1 Short title.

1. This Act may be cited as theFisheries (Oyster, Crab, and Lobster) Act, 1877.

S-2 Commencement of Act.

2 Commencement of Act.

2. This Act shall come into operation on the first day of September one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven (which day is in this Act referred to as the commencement of this Act).

I

PART I.

Oysters.

Oysters.

S-3 This part of Act not to apply to Ireland.

3 This part of Act not to apply to Ireland.

3. This part of this Act shall not apply to Ireland or to any oyster bed or bank within the jurisdiction of the Inspectors of Irish Fisheries.

S-4 Prohibition on sale of oysters between certain dates.

4 Prohibition on sale of oysters between certain dates.

4. A person shall not sell, expose for sale, consign for sale, or buy for sale,—

(1) (1.) Any oysters known at the passing of this Act in the oyster trade as ‘deep-sea oysters,’ between the fifteenth day of June in any year and the following fourth day of August; or

(2) (2.) Any description of oysters other than those aforesaid, between the fourteenth day of May in any year and the following fourth day of August.

Every person who acts in contravention of this section shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two pounds for the first offence, and ten pounds for the second or any subsequent offence, and also to forfeit all oysters exposed for sale, consigned for sale, or bought for sale in contravention of this section:

Provided that a person shall not be guilty of an offence under this section if he satisfies the court that the oysters alleged to have been sold, exposed for sale, consigned for sale, or bought for sale,—

(1) (1.) Were taken within the waters of some foreign state; or

(2) (2.) Were preserved in tins or otherwise cured; or

(3) (3.) Were intended for the purpose of oyster cultivation within the same district in which the oysters were taken, or were taken from any place for cultivation with the sanction of the Board of Trade; and for this purpose the Thames estuary, bounded by a line drawn from Oxford Ness to the North Foreland, shall be deemed to be a district, and also any other area for the time being constituted a district for the purposes of this section by an order of the Board of Trade, and also where the place at which the oysters are taken is not within my such district as aforesaid, so much of the area within ten miles of the said place where the oysters are taken as is not included in any other such district as aforesaid, and the Board of Trade may from time to time make, and when made revoke or vary, an order for the purposes of this section.

S-5 Power to Board of Trade on local application to temporarily prohibit or restrict dredging for oysters on certain banks.

5 Power to Board of Trade on local application to temporarily prohibit or restrict dredging for oysters on certain banks.

5. The Board of Trade, on such application as is in this part of this Act mentioned, and after such public inquiry and notice as they think expedient, may, if they think fit, by order restrict or prohibit during a limited period not exceeding one year, either entirely or subject to any exceptions and regulations, the dredging for and taking of oysters on any oyster bank or bed, and may by such order provide for enforcing the order, and any prohibition, restriction, or regulation contained therein, by fines not exceeding twenty pounds for each offence.

The Board of Trade by order may from time to time renew, for a period not exceeding one year, or vary, an order under this section, and may at any time revoke the same.

Nothing in such order shall apply to a several right of fishery in any oyster bed or bank, or to any bed or bank of oysters which has been or shall hereafter be the subject of a grant or regulation order under Part III. of ‘The Sea Fisheries Act, 1868,’ or any Acts amending the same.

S-6 Persons entitled to apply to Board of Trade under this part of Act.

6 Persons entitled to apply to Board of Trade under this part of Act.

6. An application to the Board of Trade for an order under this part of this Act may be made by any persons appearing to the Board of Trade to represent the fishermen of any locality, or by any of the following authorities, if they appear to the Board of Trade to be locally interested in the fisheries; namely,

(1) (1.) The justices of a county in general or quarter sessions assembled;

(2) (2.) A town council or other urban sanitary authority;

(3) (3.) A rural sanitary authority; and

(4) (4.) Any body corporate, persons or person being or claiming to be proprietors or proprietor of or intrusted with the duty of improving, managing, maintaining, or regulating any harbour.

S-7 Order relating to oyster fishery under 31 & 32 Vict. c. 45. when unobjected to to take effect on confirmation by Order in Council.

7 Order relating to oyster fishery under 31 & 32 Vict. c. 45. when unobjected to to take effect on confirmation by Order in Council.

7. Where an order of the Board of Trade, under Part III. of the Sea Fisheries Act, 1868, either is limited to the grant of a right of fishery for a period not exceeding twenty-one years over an...

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