COMMONS AMENDMENTS (Hansard, 11 July 1995)

The Earl of Lindsay
My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 4 and 5. With these amendments I should like to speak to Amendments Nos. 162, 223 to 228, 313 to 315 and 322. These amendments are for two purposes. First, they strengthen fisheries enforcement in the River Esk. Secondly, they introduce new requirements regarding the fitting of screens at fish farms.
The first set of amendments, Nos. 4, 5 and part of No. 227, relate to fisheries enforcement on the River Esk. Although the NRA is responsible for managing and enforcing fisheries throughout the whole of the River Esk, in Scotland it does not have the power to carry out its duty effectively. These amendments will enable the new environment agency's water bailiffs to pursue individuals suspected of fisheries offences committed on the River Esk or its tributaries to be apprehended throughout the entire catchment of the River Esk, including that part which lies in Scotland. At the moment their authority is restricted to the river with its banks and tributary streams in Scotland, whereas they apply throughout the whole of the English part of the catchment. The amendments will mean that poachers in the Scottish part of the catchment will no longer have a better chance of escape and enforcement will be improved throughout the river system. If it proves necessary for a bailiff to search property in Scotland, he will need a search warrant from the sheriff or from a Scottish JP in the same way as a Scottish water bailiff does.
I now turn to the amendments relating to screens. During our Committee and Report stages the noble Lord, Lord Moran, tabled amendments which would, in effect, require gratings to be fitted to fish farm intakes in order to protect wild fish. The Government agreed to consider that proposal and, if appropriate, to bring forward amendments in another place. That is the effect of the remaining amendments in this group. They have two main purposes—to prevent salmon and migratory trout from becoming trapped in fish farm intakes and outfalls and to prevent farmed fish from escaping into the wild. This latter point reflects a particular concern expressed by my noble friend Lord Mills.
1477 Amendment No. 223 will replace Section 14 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975. This section currently requires certain water and canal undertakings and mills to fit gratings—the design of which must be approved by Ministers—to water intakes and outfalls in rivers. The new provision extends the requirement to fit gratings (now referred to as "screens") to fish farms and provides that these must be capable of preventing the ingress of wild fish and the escape of farmed fish. It also removes the requirement for ministerial approval. Instead, more general requirements similar to those enshrined in recent Scottish legislation will apply to the placing and nature of screens and will allow for the use of devices other than gratings to prevent the passage of fish.
Amendment No. 224 replaces references to "gratings" in Section 15 of the 1975 Act with the term "screens" to bring it into line with Section 14. Amendments Nos. 225, 226, part of 227, 228, 313 to 315 and 322 make consequential amendments to Schedules 12, 19 and 20 to the Bill. Amendment No. 162 makes a minor technical amendment to Clause 88—which introduces Schedule 12—to bring the wording into line with the heading of that schedule.

§ Lord Carmichael of Kelvingrove
My Lords, I believe that in general these provisions are an advance on what we had before. I agree with the amendments, but there was one point that puzzled me as regards water bailiffs. When we discussed the Salmon Bill in this House we had a serious discussion as regards the powers of water bailiffs. The Scottish water bailiffs, as far as I remember, do not require a search warrant to break open the boot of a car. I remember discussing this point with the noble Lord, Lord Burton. A water bailiff, if appointed by the riparian owners in an area, has the power, without a search warrant, to break in. If we are to follow the English practice and require search warrants, I believe that that is an advance. If the Minister cannot find the answer to that question at the moment among his mass of papers, perhaps he will inform me of it in writing.

The Earl of Lindsay
My Lords, I shall write to the noble Lord. There is a difference between the power to enter, which he has of right, and the power to search property where he needs a proper search warrant. However, I shall write to the noble Lord with the details.