Clause 33.—(INTERPRETATION.) (Hansard, 1 May 1962)

§ Mr. Leburn
I beg to move, in page 27, line 29, to leave out "spat or spawn" and to insert "or spat".
939 Perhaps it would be convenient to discuss also the Amendment in line 30.

§ Mr. Speaker
Yes. If the House so pleases.

§ Mr. Leburn
These two Amendments make a change in the definition of "shellfish". Hon. Members who were on the Committee upstairs will remember that again the hon. Member for Gloucestershire, West (Mr. Loughlin) pointed out in this case that the definition provided that the term "shellfish" included any part of any spawn. He suggested that in normal circumstances it was perhaps a little difficult to divide a shellfish spawn, and that it really was not a practical possibility. These two Amendments tidy up this matter. While we can have part of a shellfish or spat, we cannot have part of a spawn.

§ Mr. Hoy
This is a most important Amendment. I think that we ought to record our thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucestershire, West (Mr. Loughlin) Who introduced this, and indeed introduced definitions of which we had never heard.

Mr. Vane
I beg to move, in page 28, line 3, to leave out "section seventeen" and insert "sections seventeen and eighteen".
Mr. Speaker, you may think that the Amendment in line 8, and the seven Amendments to Clause 35 should be taken with this one because they all concern the Clauses about Northern Ireland.

§ Mr. Speaker
Yes. If the House so pleases.

Mr. Vane
I do not want to be charged by hon. Gentlemen with taking short cuts, but equally I do not want at this time to make too long a speech about a lot of points, none of which is really concerned with a matter of principle. I do not know how much the hon. Member for Edinburgh, Leitlh (Mr. Hoy) would like me to explain.

§ Mr. Hoy
Fairly shortly.

Mr. Vane
The first two Amendments concern Clause 33, and are consequential on Amendments made in Committee. They are appropriate to the special position of Northern Ireland which we have to recognise throughout this Bill.
The first Amendment is concerned with the appointment of British sea fishery officers with limited powers. In that case it will be seen that the appropriate Minister for making the appointments is the Secretary of State for Home Affairs. That follows an earlier precedent.
The Amendment in Clause 35, page 29, line 11, is purely technical—to make it clear that the amended constitution of the White Fish Authority, which provides that it may consist of a larger number of members, applies in the same way as in the case of the earlier White Fish Authority. The second and third Amendments are on the same lines, except that they affect the Herring Industry Board.
I now come to something a little more complicated. As originally printed, in the First Schedule—which is now the Second Schedule—there was a single Amendment to the Sea-Fishing Industry Act, 1933. During the course of our deliberations we made a second Amendment to that Act, and we must therefore be sure, when referring to the Schedule, that we are referring to the right one of those two Amendments. This is a purely drafting point, to ensure that we do not become confused between the two Amendments.
The last two Amendments, in lines 18 and 19, provide that Clause 15 and the First Schedule shall not apply to Northern Ireland. Clause 15 deals with the possession of under-sized fish, which is a matter for the Northern Ireland Government's domestic legislation, and the First Schedule consists of a long addition to the Bill, dealing with the procedure for fishery harbour charges in England and Wales, which have no relevance to Northern Ireland.
Even though this is rather a long catalogue of Amendments, there is nothing new in it The Amendments simply make the correct references in respect of Northern Ireland, and I hope that the House will agree to accept them.