Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to consolidate and amend the enactments relating to Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries in England and Wales. |
---|---|
Citation | 13 & 14 Geo. 5. c. 16 |
Territorial extent | England and Wales |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 18 July 1923 [1] |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by | Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 |
Status: Repealed |
The Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1923 (13 & 14 Geo. 5. c. 16) was an act of Parliament passed by the United Kingdom Government which attempted to consolidate fishery legislation, which at the time consisted of the Salmon Fishery Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 109) and 18 amending acts which had been passed subsequently.
The United Kingdom has a long history of legislation designed to regulate rivers and their associated fisheries, and four issues have been consistently addressed in these laws. The issues are obstructions preventing the movement of fish along rivers, close times and seasons to ensure populations of fish continue to flourish, irregular netting, and the administrative structures necessary to implement any legislation. The first known edict was part of Magna Carta in 1215, which included a clause concerning the removal of weirs from the River Thames and River Medway, to benefit both navigation and fisheries. In 1278, Edward I legislated that there should be a gap in weirs on the rivers Eden, Esk and Derwent, through which "a sow and her five little pigs can enter", and Edward IV made explicit provision for fisheries in 1432. Edward I's Statute of Westminster dating from 1285 enshrined the need for a close season during which salmon could not be removed from rivers, while Elizabeth I introduced a minimum size for caught salmon, which was set at 16 inches (41 cm). Edward III was the monarch who first introduced the concept of 'authorised' nets. [2]
The Statute of Westminster made provision for overseers to regulate fisheries, and Edward III allowed justices of the peace to employ under-conservators to police the rivers, but in reality there was little administrative support for ensuring the regulations were met until the passing of the Salmon Fishery Act 1865. Although formal recording of fish stocks prior to the 19th century was extremely patchy, there was a general perception that at the onset of the Industrial Revolution fish stocks were depleting, as a result of obstructions built across rivers, and over-zealous netting of fish is some rivers and estuaries. This led to the convening of a parliamentary select committee in 1825, to consider the salmon fisheries of the United Kingdom. Its remit was to report on the state of the fisheries, and the legislation that affected them. [2]
They produced two reports, the first of which contained 13 recommendations. These included a national close season, and weekly close times; making the taking or selling of salmon or trout during the close season an offence; a requirement that mill owners should erect and maintain gratings where water was taken from a river; guarding against the release of toxic substances into watercourses; a prohibition on the use of lights to catch salmon; and the regulation of the size of mesh that could be used in nets. They further recommended that salmon fisheries should be able to appoint and pay water bailiffs, with rights of access; that the conviction of offenders should be relatively easy; and that all of their recommendations should be enshrined in a law covering England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The second report dealt with obstructions, which was more sensitive, given that most of the structures were servicing the manufacturing industry, which wielded a lot of power. [3]
No action was taken to address any of the issues raised by the select committee, and it was another 35 years before further progress was made. A royal commission was set up in 1860, with a remit ...to enquire into the Salmon Fisheries of England and Wales, with the view of increasing the supply of a valuable article of food for the benefit of the public... It found that the reasons for the decline of the fisheries were similar to those listed in 1825, notably, obstructions which prevented fish moving up and down the rivers, the use of fixed engines, pollution, illegal fishing, the defective regulation of close seasons, the lack of a management system for the rivers and fisheries, and a general confusion about what the law allowed. It made specific mention of the pollution of rivers cause by water emanating from mines, industrial effluent, and sewage. It also highlighted the need for a body to arbitrate between the antagonistic needs of industry and fisheries, but did not suggest what that should look like. This time, some action was taken, and the Salmon Fishery Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 109) addressed most of the issues, with the Home Office given responsibility for fisheries. Thirty-three previous acts of Parliament were repealed, in order to remove uncertainty and confusion about what the legal position was, but no provision was made to create or fund local management of the fisheries. [4]
The major recommendations of the royal commission were gradually implemented by a series of supplementary acts. The first was the Salmon Fishery Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 121), which allowed boards of conservators to be set up, with powers to manage rivers or river systems as defined by the Secretary of State. The boards could also represent fishery interests, and the first steps towards funding were provided by the introduction of fishing licences. The Salmon Fishery Act 1873 gave additional powers to fishery boards and altered the way they were constituted. The Freshwater Fisheries Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c. 39) extended the concept of Fishery Boards to coarse fisheries, where rivers contained trout or char, but not salmon. Similarly, licences were required to catch these two types of fish, but not for other freshwater fish, and a close season for freshwater fish was introduced, lasting from 15 March to 15 June. The Freshwater Fisheries Act 1884 (47 & 48 Vict. c. 11) further extended the reach of fishery boards, to cover rivers that only contained freshwater fish, but no game fish, and allowed them to pass byelaws covering the size of freshwater fish that could be taken, and the methods by which they could be caught. Licence fees for freshwater fishing were introduced by the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1907 (7 Edw. 7. c. 15). [5]
By 1923, the situation was similar to that which had been addressed by the 1861 act, in that fishery legislation was covered by that act and 18 more which had been passed subsequently. The Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1923 therefore sought to remove confusion by consolidating all of the fishery legislation into a single act. It again altered the constitution of fishery boards, allowing representatives from county councils and rod licence-holders to be appointed as members, in addition to those who were already represented on the boards. It also harmonised the law in respect of game fish such as salmon and trout, and other freshwater fish. When the bill was presented to Parliament, Sir Robert Sanders, the Minister for Agriculture, described the changes that it would bring in very colourful language. [6]
One more difference this Bill makes in the law. It is a step in the direction of democracy among fish. Formerly, law gave precedence to the aristocratic fish like the salmon and the trout. Now, also it takes care of the bourgeois carp or the plebian roach or any other humble citizen of the river, even a member of the criminal classes like the pike, and it does not insult them by calling them 'coarse fish', a name by which they are often known; it speaks of them here as 'freshwater fish', and for the first time their rights are recognised. They get some of the protection that was formerly lavished only on their smart and fashionable compatriots. [7]
Salmon is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera Salmo and Oncorhynchus of the family Salmonidae, native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (Salmo) and North Pacific (Oncorhynchus) basins. Other closely related fish in the same family include trout, char, grayling, whitefish, lenok and taimen, all coldwater fish of the subarctic and cooler temperate regions with some sporadic endorheic populations in Central Asia.
Trout is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera Oncorhynchus, Salmo and Salvelinus, all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the family Salmonidae. The word trout is also used for some similar-shaped but non-salmonid fish, such as the spotted seatrout/speckled trout.
The National Fish Hatchery System (NFHS) was established by the U.S. Congress in 1871 through the creation of a U.S. Commissioner for Fish and Fisheries. This system of fish hatcheries is now administered by the Fisheries Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), an agency within the United States Department of the Interior.
The rainbow trout is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout(O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to freshwater to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead.
Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus) or Columbia River redband trout. Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and North America. Like other sea-run (anadromous) trout and salmon, steelhead spawn in freshwater, smolts migrate to the ocean to forage for several years and adults return to their natal streams to spawn. Steelhead are iteroparous, although survival is only approximately 10–20%.
The Atlantic salmon is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into it. Most populations are anadromous, hatching in streams and rivers but moving out to sea as they grow where they mature, after which the adults seasonally move upstream again to spawn.
Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout, and is often referred to as Salmo trutta morpha trutta. Other names for anadromous brown trout are bull trout, sewin (Wales), peel or peal, mort, finnock (Scotland), white trout (Ireland), Dollaghan and salmon trout (culinary).
Pink salmon or humpback salmon is a species of euryhaline ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the type species of the genus Oncorhynchus, and is the smallest and most abundant of the seven officially recognized species of salmon. The species' scientific name is based on the Russian common name for this species gorbúša (горбуша), which literally means humpie.
Snagging, also known as snag fishing, snatching, snatch fishing, jagging (Australia), or foul hooking, is a fishing technique for catching fish that uses sharp grappling hooks tethered to a fishing line to externally pierce into the flesh of nearby fish, without needing the fish to swallow any hook with its mouth like in angling. This is achieved by suddenly and vigorously pulling the line when movement is felt, causing the snag hook to "claw" into any fish unfortunate enough to be grappled by the hook points. Weighted multi-hook rigs can be used to increase chances of success, and modern technologies such as underwater video camera can also be used to visually aid and time the snagging.
Coarse fishing is a phrase commonly used in Britain and Ireland. It refers to the angling for rough fish, which are fish species considered undesirable as food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids, particularly salmon, trout and char. Generally, coarse fish are freshwater fish that are not salmonids, though there is often disagreement over whether grayling should be classified as a game fish or a coarse fish.
A water bailiff is a law-enforcement officer responsible for the policing of bodies of water, such as river, lake or coast. The position has existed in many jurisdictions throughout history.
Fishing in Chile is a major industry with a total catch of 4,442,877 tons of fish in 2006. As of 2010, Chile has the seventh largest commercial catch in the world. With over 4,000 km of viable coastline, fishing has been a vital resource for small-scale business and family development for hundreds of years. Due to the Humboldt Current, the Chilean Sea is considered among the most productive marine ecosystems in the world as well as the largest upwelling system. Artisanal fishing is practised all over Chile's 6,435 km long coastline and combines industrial techniques with pre-Hispanic traditions. Recreational fishing tourism in southern Chile's rivers has recently gained worldwide fame attracting actors such as Harrison Ford, Michael Douglas, and Kevin Costner.
Irish fisheries law is the fisheries law of Ireland. It relates to Irish fisheries.
Fisheries Act is a stock short title used for legislation in multiple countries relating to fisheries. The Bill for an Act with this short title will have been known as a Fisheries Bill during its passage through Parliament.
A fishing license (US), fishing licence (UK), or fishing permit is an administrative or legal mechanism employed by state and local governments to regulate fishing activities within their administrative areas. Licensing is one type of fisheries management commonly used in Western countries, and may be required for either commercial or recreational fishing.
The Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 is a law passed by the government of the United Kingdom in an attempt to protect salmon and trout from commercial poaching, to protect migration routes, to prevent willful vandalism and neglect of fisheries, ensure correct licensing and water authority approval. This helps to sustain the rural inland freshwater fisheries industry, which employs around 37,000 people in the UK.
The Salmon Act 1986 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament which outlines legislation that covers legal and illegal matter within the salmon farming and fishing industries. Among the provisions in the Act, it makes it illegal to "handle salmon in suspicious circumstances", which is defined in law as when one believes, or could reasonably believe, that salmon has been illegally fished or that salmon—that has come from an illegal source—has been received, retained, removed, or disposed of.
The River Boards Act 1948 was an Act of Parliament passed by the United Kingdom Government which provided constitutional, financial and general administrative structures for river boards, which were responsible for the management of river board areas, and superseded the catchment boards that had been set up under the Land Drainage Act 1930.