HL Deb 30 October 1986 vol 481 cc882-3

37 After Clause 32, insert the following clause: Byelaws under Sea Fisheries Regulation Act 1966

  1. "(1) Subject to subsection (3) below, the power of a local fisheries committee to make byelaws under section 5 of the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act 1966 shall be exercisable for the purposes of protecting salmon and of preventing any interference with their migration and shall be so exercisable as if the references in that section to sea fish included references to salmon.
  2. (2) Subject to subsection (3) below, the power of a local fisheries committee to make byelaws under the said section 5 shall also include power to make byelaws which for the purposes of section 6 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 authorise the placing and use of fixed engines at such places in their sea fisheries district, at such times and in such manner as may be prescribed by the byelaws and impose requirements as to the construction, design, material and dimensions of such engines, including in the case of nets the size of mesh.
  3. (3) A local fisheries committee shall not make byelaws for any purpose mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) above unless the water authority whose area for the purposes of functions relating to fisheries includes the whole or any part of the committee's sea fisheries district have consented to byelaws being made by the committee for that purpose.
  4. (4) For the purposes of any byelaws made by virtue of this section the references to sea fish in sections 10(2)(c) and 12 of the said Act of 1966 (which include provision with respect to the seizure of, and searches for, sea fish taken in contravention of byelaws) shall be deemed to include references to salmon.".
  5. (5) In this section—
  6. "fixed engine" has the same meaning as in the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975: and
  7. "salmon" means fish of the salmon species and trout which migrate to and from the sea.

Lord Belstead

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 37. This clause fulfils an undertaking to consider whether action could be taken to prevent fishing for salmon in estuaries and coastal waters under the guise of sea fishing. Your Lordships will recall that this problem was originally raised by the noble Lord, Lord Moran, to whom the Government are most grateful for so doing.

Subsection (1) allows byelaws to be made for the protection of salmon and to prevent interference with their migration. This is designed to close a gap in the law to which the noble Lord drew attention. Water authorities are responsible, under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975, for regulating salmon fishing, but they cannot control what is ostensibly fishing for sea fish. On the other hand, sea fisheries committees may make byelaws regulating sea fishing but cannot at present use those powers for the protection of salmon. This loophole, identified by the noble Lord, Lord Moran, had made it easier for people to fish illegally for salmon in the guise of fishing for sea fish.

The new provision will, the Government hope, close that loophole. Sea fisheries committees will (with the consent of the relevant water authority) be given powers to make byelaws which restrict certain sea fishing in circumstances where it is clear that salmon or migratory trout are likely to be caught. This is a further conservation measure which I am sure will be welcomed.

I have already referred, on Amendment No. 35, to the second type of byelaw for which this clause provides, which amends Section 6 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975, so that the placing and using of fixed engines may be authorised by byelaws made either by a water authority or a sea fisheries committee. Subsection (2) of this clause enables sea fisheries committees to make byelaws under the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act 1966 for this purpose, provided they have the consent of the relevant water authority. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Moran, will feel that we have stopped up this loophole in an effective way.

Moved, That this House do agree with the Commons in the said amendment.—(Lord Belstead.)

Lord Moran

My Lords, may I very briefly express my gratitude to the noble Lord the Minister for having arranged for this amendment to be introduced. I welcome it very much and I hope that with goodwill on all sides it will work effectively, and will prevent the illegal fishing in coastal waters that has gone on in the past. I am very grateful to the Government.

On Question, Motion agreed to.