This measure is intended to facilitate the enactment of a Fisheries (Consolidation) Bill. This Consolidation Bill had been introduced in the Seanad in 1952 and examined by the Standing Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills who presented their report thereon in July, 1953. The Consolidation Bill was not proceeded with, however, as it was deemed desirable that certain defects and inconsistencies in the fisheries statutes, to which the committee had informally drawn attention, should be remedied by means of a Statute Law Revision Bill. The main object of the Fisheries (Statute Law Revision Bill) now before the House is to remove these defects and inconsistencies from the present fisheries provisions. The Bill also includes certain minor amendments to the fisheries statutes of a procedural nature, the need for which has become apparent in the past few years.
As Deputies are aware, the Bill has been examined by a special committee of the Seanad and some useful amendments incorporated. I should like to pay a tribute to the diligence and despatch with which the committee accomplished its work.
The explanatory memorandum which has been circulated with the Bill deals with each section fairly comprehensively. While it does not seem necessary for me to comment further on all of the provisions I should like to mention especially Sections 6 to 9 and Sections 17 and 18.
Sections 6 to 9 bring the provisions dealing with fishery rating into line with the law relating to rates struck by local authorities as regards liability for rates and the power to issue new or amended demand notes. Many boards of conservators had, in fact, followed the local authority procedure in this, but the law officers have recently advised that the Local Government provisions did not apply, and it has been thought advisable to make enabling statutory provision for the practice accordingly.
Sections 17 and 18 extend the existing provisions covering detention of boats and seizure of gear and fish arising from offences under the Sea Fisheries Protection Act, 1933, or the Sea Fisheries (Protection of Immature Fish) Act, 1937. In captures under these Acts in recent years certain difficulties have arisen in securing from the boats the forfeitures (nets, gear, fish) and it is regarded as essential that the sea fisheries officers should have extended powers, including the removal of the boat from place to place, and use of the boat's own lifting gear, etc., in order to facilitate the removal of the forfeitures.
On enactment of this Bill it is intended that its provisions will be incorporated in the draft Fisheries (Consolidation) Bill which it is hoped then to reintroduce at the earliest practicable date. Many proposals for amendment of the fisheries statutes have been put to me from time to time. I appreciate that a number of these represent overdue and necessary improvements of the existing law relating to fisheries. When consolidation of the fisheries law has been effected it is intended that a major amendment measure will then be prepared with the object of considerably improving and modernising the fishery law generally and all these proposals to which I have referred will be reconsidered at that stage.
