Salmon Fishery Act 1861
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1861 c. 109 |
(24 & 25 Vict.) C A P. CIX.
[6th August 1861]
'WHEREAS the Salmon Fisheries ofEngland have of late Years been greatly injured, and for the Purpose of increasing the Supply of Salmon it is expedient to amend the Laws relating to Fisheries of Salmon in England: ' Be it therefore 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.
1 Short Title.
1. This Act may be cited for all Purposes as theSalmon Fishery Act, 1861.
2 Application of Act.
2. This Act shall not extend toScotland or Ireland , or to the River Tweed , as defined by the Tweed Fisheries Amendment Act, 1859.
3 Commencement of Act.
3. This Act shall not come into operation until the First Day ofOctober One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
4 Definition of Terms.
4. In this Act, unless there is something inconsistent in the Context, the Words and Expressions herein-after mentioned shall have respectively the Meanings hereby assigned to them; that is to say,
‘Person’ shall include any Body of Persons, corporate or unincorporate:
‘Salmon’ shall include all migratory Fish of the Genus Salmon, whether known by the Names herein-after mentioned, that is to say, Salmon, Cock or Kipper, Kelt, Laurel, Girling, Grilse, Botcher, Blue Cock, Blue Pole, Fork Tail, Mort, Peal, Herring, Peal, May Peal, Pugg Peal, Harvest Cock, Sea Trout, White Trout, Sewin, Buntling, Guiniad, Tub, Yellow Fin, Sprod, Herling, Whiting, Bull Trout, Whitling, Scurf, Burn Tail, Fry, Samlet, Smoult, Smelt, Skirling or Scarling, Parr, Spawn, Pink, Last Spring, Hepper, Last Brood, Gravelling, Shed, Scad, Blue Fin, Black Tip, Fingerling, Brandling, Brondling, or by any other local Name:
‘Young of Salmon’ shall include all Young of the Salmon Species, whether known by the Names of Fry, Samlet, Smolt, Smelt, Skirling or Skarling, Par, Spawn, Pink, Last Spring, Hepper, Last Brood, Gravelling, Shed, Scad, Blue Fin, Black Tip, Fingerling, Brandling, Brondling, or by any other Name, local or otherwise:
‘Court’ shall include Two or more Magistrates assembled in Petty Sessions:
‘Tidal Waters’ shall include the Sea, and all Rivers, Creeks, Streams, and other Water as far as the Tide flows and reflows:
‘Inland Waters’ shall mean all Waters that are not tidal Waters:
‘Dam’ shall mean all Weirs and other fixed Obstructions used for the Purpose of damming up Water:
‘Fishing Weir’ shall mean a Dam used for the exclusive Purpose of catching or facilitating the catching of Fish:
‘Fishing Mill Dam’ shall mean a Dam used or intended to be used partly for the Purpose of catching or facilitating the catching of Fish, and partly for the Purpose of supplying Water for Milling or other Purposes:
‘Fixed Engine’ shall include Stake Nets, Bag Nets, Putts, Putchers, and all fixed Implements or Engines for catching or for facilitating the catching of Fish:
‘Home Office’ shall mean One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State.
Law of Fishing.
5 Penalty on mixing poisonous Substances in Rivers.
5. Every Person who causes or knowingly permits to flow, or puts or knowingly permits to be put, into any Waters containing Salmon, or into any Tributaries thereof, any liquid or solid Matter to such an Extent as to cause the Waters to poison or kill Fish, shall incur the following Penalties; (that is to say,)
(1) (1.) Upon the First Conviction a Penalty not exceeding Five Pounds:
(2) (2.) Upon the Second Conviction a Penalty not exceeding Ten Pounds, and a farther Penalty not exceeding Two Pounds for every Day during which such Offence is continued:
(3) (3.) Upon the Third or any subsequent Conviction, a Penalty not exceeding Twenty Pounds a Day for every Day during which such Offence is continued, commencing from the Date of the Third Conviction:
But no Person shall be subject to the foregoing Penalties for any Act done in the Exercise of any Right to which he is by Law entitled, if he prove to the Satisfaction of the Court before whom he is tried that he has used the best practicable Means, within a reasonable Cost, to render harmless the liquid or solid Matter so permitted to flow or to be put into Waters; but nothing herein contained shall prevent any Person from acquiring a legal Right in Cases where he would have acquired it if this Act had not passed, or exempt any Person from any Punishment to which he would otherwise be subject, or legalize any Act or Default that would but for this Act be deemed to be a Nuisance or otherwise be contrary to Law.
6 Power to have Question under preceding Section decided by Jury.
6. Where any Proceedings are instituted by any Complainant against any Person for the Recovery of any Penalties alleged to have been incurred by him under the last preceding Section, if such Person, herein-after referred to as ‘the Defendant,’ on appearing before the Justices constituting the Court by which he is to be tried in pursuance of this Act, alleges, by way of Defence, that he has used the best practicable Means, within a reasonable Cost, to render such Matter harmless, and proves to the Satisfaction of the Court that in the event of the Complaint being decided against him the Expense of permanently preventing the Matter complained of would, exclusive of Costs, exceed One hundred Pounds, and gives Security, to be approved by such Court, duly to prosecute his Appeal and to abide the Event thereof, all Proceedings before the Justices shall be stayed, and it shall be lawful for such Complainant to bring an Action in One of Her Majesty's Superior Courts of Law atWestminster against the Defendant; and the Plaintiff in such Action shall deliver to the Defendant an Issue or Issues whereby the Question whether he has used the best practicable Means, within a reasonable Cost, to render such Matter armless may be tried; and the Form of such Issue or Issues, in case of Dispute, or in the Case of Nonappearance of the Defendant, shall be settled by the Court in which the Action is brought, and such Action shall be prosecuted and Issue or Issues tried in the same Manner and subject to the same Incidents in and subject to which Actions are prosecuted and Issues tried in other Cases within the Jurisdiction of such Court, or as near thereto as Circumstances admit.
7 Effect of Issue.
7. The Verdict of the Jury on such Issue shall, unless the Court before which the same is tried orders a new Trial, be conclusive as to the Questions involved in any subsequent Proceedings that may be had for the Recovery of any Penalties in pursuance of the said Section, and any Costs that may have been incurred before the Justices by the Parties to such Action as is mentioned in this Section shall be deemed to be Costs incurred in such Action, and be payable accordingly.
8 Penalty on fishing with Lights, Spears, &c.
8. No Person shall do the following Things or any of them; that is to say,
(1) (1.) Use any Light for the Purpose of catching Salmon:
(2) (2.) Use any Spear, Gaff, Strokehall, Snatch, or other like Instrument for catching Salmon:
(3) (3.) Have in his Possession a Light or any of the foregoing Instruments under such Circumstances as to satisfy the Court before whom he is tried that he intended at the Time to catch Salmon by means thereof:
And any Person acting in contravention of this Section shall incur a Penalty not exceeding Five Pounds, and shall forfeit any Instruments used by him or found in his Possession in contravention of this Section; but this Section shall not apply to any Person using a Gaff as auxiliary to angling with a Rod and Line.
9 Penalty on using Roe as a Bait.
9. No Person shall do the following Things or any of them; that is to say,
(1) (1.) Use any Fish Roe for the Purpose of fishing:
(2) (2.) Buy, sell, or expose for Sale, or have in his Possession, any Salmon Roe:
And any Person acting in contravention of this Section shall for each Offence incur a Penalty not exceeding Two Pounds, and shall forfeit all Salmon Roe found in his Possession; but this Section shall not apply to any Person who uses or has in his Possession Salmon Roe for artificial Propagation or other scientific Purposes, or gives any Reason satisfactory to the Court by whom he is tried for having the same in his Possession.
10 Penalty on using certain Nets.
10. No Person shall take or attempt to take Salmon with any Net having a Mesh of less Dimensions than Two Inches in extension from Knot to Knot (the Measurement to be made on each Side of the Square), or Eight Inches measured round each Mesh when wet; and any Person acting in contravention of this Section shall forfeit all Nets and Tackle used by him in so doing, and shall for each Offence incur a Penalty not exceeding Five Pounds; and the placing Two or more Nets behind of near to each other in such Manner as to practically diminish the Mesh of the Nets used, or the covering the Nets used with Canvas, or the using any other Artifice so as to evade the Provisions of this Section with respect to the Mesh of Nets, shall be deemed to be an Act in contravention of this Section.
11 Penalty on placing or fixing fixed Engines.
11. No fixed Engine of any Description shall be placed or used for catching Salmon in any inland or tidal...
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