the commissioners according to the provisions herein-after contained (p).

Sec. 33. [Commissioners empowered to alter the close season in any river or district, upon inquiry had, and proof that such alteration is expedient.] See 9 & 10 Vic. c. 114, s. 1, post, and the decision of the commissioners to be published; s. 34.

Sec. 34. Decision of commissioners as to close season.

Sec. 36. [Penalty for any person having salmon or trout caught in close seasons.] If, during the close season for salmon for or in respect of any river, lake, estuary, or any part of the sea coast, any person shall wilfully take or fish for, or aid or assist in taking or fishing for, any salmon or trout therein or therefrom, such person shall forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding £10 for every such offence (q), and shall also forfeit every fish so taken, and every net or engine by which the same may have been taken; and if any person shall buy, sell, or expose to sale (r), or have in his custody or possession, any salmon or trout so caught in such close time as aforesaid, such person shall forfeit each and every such fish, and not exceeding £2 for each such fish; and in any proceeding for the recovery of the said last-mentioned penalty, proof that such person had the salmon or trout in his custody or possession during such close season shall be prima facie evidence that the said salmon or trout was caught during the close season as aforesaid; and if any person shall place or hang any coghill or eel nets, or baskets, or other fixed modes of catching fish, in the eyes, gaps, or sluices of eel or other weirs within the periods prohibited by this act, or to be prohibited by the said commissioners in pursuance of this act, such person shall forfeit such nets, and a sum not exceeding £10 for each such net; and if any person shall hang or set, or leave hung or set, such nets as last aforesaid, between sunrise and sunset, within the periods allowed for the said fishery, such person so offending shall forfeit the said nets, and a sum not exceeding £5 for each such net; and in any proceedings against any person for the recovery of any penalty incurred by violation of the provisions aforesaid, proof that such person is the occupier of such weir shall be prima facie evidence that the said nets were hung or set, or left hung or set, by him; and if any person shall dredge for, take, catch, or destroy, have in his possession, sell, or buy any oysters or oyster brood within the period prohibited by this act, or within the period to be prohibited by the said commissioners in pursuance of this act, such

(p) See 7 & 8 Vic. c. 108, s. 5, post, giving power to the commissioners to suspend the oyster fishery in any particular locality.

(2) For minimum penalty in all

cases under this section, see 11 & 12 Vic. c. 92, s. 42, post.

(r) See post, 13 & 14 Vic. c. 88, s. 35, for offence of having part of a salmon or trout in the close season.

person shall forfeit such oysters, and forfeit and pay not exceeding £5 for each offence; (s) provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the proprietor of any oyster bed, or any person deriving under him, from removing or laying down oyster brood during such close season (t).

Sec. 37. [All machinery, nets, &c. for the taking of salmon, &c. shall be removed during close seasons.] During the close season for salmon every occupier or farmer of any fishery shall remove and carry away from such fishery, and the weirs, dikes, and dams connected therewith, and from the river or stream in which such weirs, dikes, or dams are placed, and from the landing places adjoining thereto, all and every engine, spear, hand-net, or other net, inscale, hecks, and rails of all cruives, boxes, or cribs, used for the purpose of taking or killing salmon, and the tops of such cruives, boxes, or cribs, and all planks and temporary engines and fixtures used and required for the fishing of the same; and that all and every obstruction to the free passage of the fish in and through each and every such cruive, crib, or box be wholly removed and carried away within 36 hours after the expiration of the open session so fixed as aforesaid, and shall not be again placed or allowed to be placed or to remain therein until within 36 hours of the commencement of such open season; and in default he shall forfeit all such nets, engines, or other tackle or contrivance as aforesaid, and shall for every such offence forfeit not exceeding £50, and shall also, for every day during which he shall suffer such obstacles and other things to remain and be unremoved beyond the period prescribed by this act, forfeit not exceeding £5; and it shall be lawful to and for the J. P. before whom the person so offending shall be convicted, to order the removal and sale of such nets, engines, or other tackle at the expense of the person so offending: provided always, that nothing herein-contained shall be construed to render liable to any penalty any person who shall be prevented by floods, storm, or stress of weather from removing any such net, engine, or tackle during the continuance of such prevention; and provided also, that the proprietor or farmer of any salmon war, now legally entitled to a right of fishing for eels in such weir, and who has exercised such right previous to the passing of this act, shall not be liable to any penalty on account of his hanging, placing, or using coghill or eel nets or baskets in the

(8) "Every person who shall commit any of the offences in the above section specified shall (in addition to the forfeiture thereby specified) forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding the sum for such offence respectively

above specified, and not less in any case than the sum of ten shillings; 11 & 12 Vic. c. 92, s. 42.

(t) See s. 32, ante; and 7 & 8 Vic. c. 108, s. 5, post; and also 8 & 9 Vic. c. 108, s. 19, post.

eyes or gaps of such weir, if such coghill or eel nets or baskets be only used in conformity with the provisions of this act, and be only hung in four-fifths in number of the eyes or gaps of such weir, and the other one-fifth of such eyes or gaps, in addition to the Queen's or free pass, be kept open and unobstructed for the free passage of all kinds of fish, as herein provided; and provided also, that nothing herein-contained shall be construed to exempt such proprietor or farmer from liability to the penalties by this act directed in case any salmon or trout shall be killed, taken, or caught in such weir during close season, or in case he shall not keep open and unobstructed, according to the provisions of this act, one-fifth in number, as aforesaid, of the eyes or gaps of the said weir.

Sec. 38. [All bag, &c., nets, &c. for catching salmon in the tideway shall be removed during close season.] During the close season for salmon every proprietor, lessee, or other person who shall be engaged in fishing for salmon by means of fixed engines, shall remove and carry away from the poles or fixtures to which they shall be attached, all stake nets, bag nets, sole nets, fly nets, or other devices or engines used for the purpose of taking salmon, except where same shall be formed of wood, iron, copper, or other rigid substance, in which case a clear opening of four feet in width shall be made and maintained in and completely through the pouches, traps, or chambers of all such nets, devices, or engines, from the top to the bottom of such pouches, traps, or chambers, and in the eyes of flood and ebb weirs, commonly called head weirs, so as to allow the free passage of salmon and other fish through the same, and effectually to prevent the catching or taking of any fish therein; and in case any such person shall omit or neglect to remove or carry away all such nets and engines, or, as the case may be, to make and maintain free from all obstruction such openings as aforesaid, during the times aforesaid, he shall forfeit all such nets or engines, and a sum not exceeding £50, and shall also for every day during which such nets or engines shall remain and be unremoved beyond the period prescribed by this act, forfeit not exceeding £5: provided always that nothing herein-contained shall be construed to render liable to any penalty any person who shall be prevented by storm or stress of weather from removing such nets or engines, or making such openings as aforesaid, during the continuance of such prevention.

Sec. 39. [Saving for weirs to catch white sea fish.] And whereas soles, turbot, sprats, hake, and other white sea fish are now caught by weirs in the tide-ways of certain rivers during the close salmon season, and it is expedient that such fisheries should, under certain restrictions, be permitted; be it enacted, that it shall be

lawful for all persons now legally entitled by charter or prescriptive right to the use of such weirs to continue to use them for the purpose of catching white fish, notwithstanding its being the close salmon season, provided they obtain the licence of the commissioners appointed under this act to do so; and it shall be lawful to the said commissioners to issue their licence accordingly for such period as they may think proper.

Sec. 40. [Salmon or trout not to be taken in any traps, nets, or fixed engines from six on Saturday evening to six on Monday morning.] It shall not be lawful (v), in inland lakes or rivers, to take, kill, or fish for any salmon or trout in or by any crib, box, cruive, eye, sluice, or gap in any eel or other weir or dam, or by any nets of what nature or kind soever, between six on Saturday evening and six on Monday morning; and that it shall not be lawful, in the sea or any estuaries or tide-ways, to take, kill, or fish for any salmon or trout in or by any stake, flood, ebb, or head weir, stake net, bag net, fixed net, or other net whatsoever, between the low water next in point of time before six on Saturday night and the low water next in point of time before six on Monday morning, but that in each of such stake, flood, ebb, or head weir, and stake net, a clear opening of at least four feet in width shall be made, and kept free from obstruction, in the pouches, traps, chambers, or eyes of the same, from the bottom to the top thereof, so as effectually to allow of the free passage of salmon and other fish through such pouches, traps, chambers, and eyes during such weekly close time; and that the netting of the leader of each and every such bag, fly, sole, or other fixed net of similar construction, shall during such time be raised and kept out of the water; and also that in all rivers, lakes, and tide-ways all other nets and baskets whatsoever, except those used for the taking of eels, shall be wholly removed and taken out of the water for and during the space of time above mentioned; and the inscales or gates and rails or framework of all such cribs, boxes, or cruives for the catching of salmon, or other fish of the salmon kind, shall be removed out of or opened in each such crib, box, or cruive, eye, sluice, or gap, in every salmon or other weir wherein salmon may be caught, in such a manner that a clear opening of not less than four feet in width from the bottom to the top of each such crib, box, or cruive shall be left therein, and that a free, direct, and uninterrupted space or opening of the said width shall be effectually secured for the passage of fish of all kinds, both up and down, through such boxes, cribs, or cruives; and any person occupying or using any such box, crib, cruive, stake, flood, ebb, or head weir, stake, bag,

(v) See 13 & 14 Vic. c. 88, s. 38, post.

or other fixed net, basket, or other engines for catching fish, and failing to remove or open the same as required by this act, and any person using any means, device, or contrivance to prevent the free passage through such box, crib, cruive, or engine, or in any way or by any means wilfully frightening or scaring, or attempting to frighten or scare, any salmon or other fish from passing through such box, crib, cruive, pouch, trap, eye, sluice, gap, or other engine, or taking therein any salmon between six on Saturday evening and six on Monday morning, or between the low waters next in point of time to those periods respectively, as the case may be, shall for every such offence forfeit not less than £5, and not exceeding £50: Provided always, that no person shall be liable to any penalty who shall be prevented by floods, storm, &c. from obeying this act.

Sec. 41. [In all salmon weirs a free gap to be left.] From and after the 1st January, 1843, in all standing weirs, dams, or dykes, of what nature or kind soever, which extend more than half-way across any river at the lowest state of the water thereof, or more than half-way across any branch thereof, for the purpose of catching salmon, eels, or other fish, a free gap or Queen's share shall be left or formed in the deepest part of such river or any such branch as aforesaid, and shall be constructed in such manner that the sides of the said free gap or Queen's share shall be in the line of and parallel to the natural direction of the stream of such river or branch as aforesaid, and that the bottom thereof shall be level with the natural bed of such river or branch as aforesaid above and below such gap or Queen's share, and that the width thereof, at its narrowest point, shall be not less than 40ft. in the clear in all such rivers or branches as aforesaid of and exceeding 400ft. in breadth; and not less in the clear than one-tenth part of the breadth of such river or branch thereof in all such rivers or branches as aforesaid of less than 400ft. and not less than 100ft. in breadth; and not less than 10ft. in the clear in all such rivers or branches as aforesaid of less than 100ft. and not less than 50ft. in breadth; and not less than 5ft. in the clear in all such rivers and branches as aforesaid of less breadth than 50ft.; the breadth of such rivers or branches as aforesaid in all cases to be ascertained by measuring the breadth of the natural bed thereof at the place where such weir, dam, or dyke shall be erected, without reference to any walls, artificial banks, or erections; and in cases of dispute the same shall be determined by the commissioners; and that in all weirs, dams, or dykes in which a free gap or Queen's share at present exists, such free gap or Queen's share shall not be reduced in width, nor shall any free gap or Queen's share of less width be substituted in lieu thereof, anything herein-contained to the contrary not