§ Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.
§ Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Templemore.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ House in Committee accordingly:
§ [The EARL OF ONSLOW in the Chair.]
§ Clause 1:
§ Description of whales to which the Act applies.
§ 1. The provisions of this Act have no application in relation to whales other than those known as whalebone whales.
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES (EARL DE LA WARR) moved, in subsection (1), to leave out "whales other than those known as whalebone whales" and insert "toothed whales, that is to say, whales known by any of the names set out in Part I of the Schedule to this Act." The noble Earl said: This is the drafting Amendment which I mentioned on the Second Reading, to deal with the question of definition.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 1, line 7, leave out from ("to") to end of clause and insert ("toothed whales, that is to say, whales known by any of the names set out in Part I of the Schedule to this Act").—(Earl De La Warr.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.
§ Clause 2 agreed to.
§ Clause 3:
§ Protection for certain classes of whales.
§ (2) For the purposes of this section—
- (a) the expression "right whale" includes a North Cape whale, a Greenland
235 whale, a southern right whale, a Pacific right whale and a southern pigmy right whale; - (b) the expression "calf" includes a suckling whale;
- (c) a whale of any description shall be deemed to be immature if it is of less than such length as may be prescribed in relation to whales of that description;
§ Provided that the length prescribed for the purposes of this section in relation to blue whales shall not be less than sixty feet, and the length so prescribed in relation to fin whales shall not be less than fifty feet.
§ EARL DE LA WARR moved to leave out subsection (2) and insert:
§ "(2) For the purposes of this section a whale of any description shall be deemed to be immature if it is of less than such length as may be prescribed in relation to whales of that description:
§ Provided that the length prescribed for the purposes of this section in relation to blue whales shall not be less than sixty feet, and the length so prescribed in relation to fin whales shall not be less than fifty feet.
§ (3) In this section—
- (a) the expression "calf" includes a suckling whale;
- (b) the expression "right whale" means a whale known by any of the names set out in Part II of the Schedule to this Act;
- (c) the expression "blue whales" means whales known by any of the names set out in Part III of the Schedule to this Act;
- (d) the expression "fin whales" means whales known by any of the names set out in Part IV of the Schedule to this Act."
§ The noble Earl said: This is a consequential Amendment.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 2, line 16, leave out subsection (2) and insert the said new subsections—(Earl De La Warr.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 3, as amended, agreed to.
§ Remaining clauses agreed to.
§ EARL DE LA WARR moved to insert the following Schedule.