I.—General Principles on which Exclusive Rights of Fishery or The following comprise the several classes of grants or concessions which appear to the Board of Trade to fall within the scope and intention of the above-named Act, and for which they will be prepared to consider applications : 1. Appropriations of moderate areas of unproductive sea-bed or foreshore for the establishment of new fisheries or local depôts. 2. Appropriations of small areas of already productive ground for oyster layings or depôts in the vicinity of public beds. 3. Concessions of exclusive fishery rights to owners or occupiers of existing fisheries, but within such limits and conditions only as may make such concessions beneficial to the public. 4. Powers for regulating or restricting unlimited fishing on oyster or mussel beds in cases where it is proved that such fishing is carried on in so wasteful a manner as to have the effect of exhausting the beds and diminishing the supply, without corresponding advantage to the public. Applications for grants of exclusive fishery rights coming under any of the following heads cannot be entertained : 1. Appropriations of large areas of already existing public beds or productive dredging-ground. 2. Appropriations of larger extents of ground than the claimants have the means of beneficially cultivating, whether under the plea of regulating and superintending the fishery, or for any other purpose. 3. Appropriations of large areas for the purpose of enabling the grantees to exercise licensing or sub-letting powers. Applications for regulative or restrictive powers operating unequally upon different classes of fishermen cannot be entertained. The only ground for the concession of exclusive fishery rights or restrictive powers over any portion of the sea shore is the expectation that by these means the supply of oysters or mussels will be materially increased, and the public thereby benefited. Such expectation must consequently be shown to exist in all cases of orders under this Act, and especially in the case of an order affecting an already productive dredging-ground. II. Title to Soil. By the Crown Lands Act, 1866 (29 & 30 Vict. c. 62, ss. 7 to 25), the administration of the Crown rights over the foreshore and bed of the sea are, with certain exceptions, transferred to the Board of Trade. [See supra, p. 351.] When an application for a fishery grant includes foreshore or sea bed under the management of the Board of Trade, that board will, in administering the provisions of Part III. of The Sea Fisheries Act, 1868, deal also with the questions affecting the title to the soil. Upon this subject no positive or universal rule can at present be laid down, but in dealing with the proprietary rights of the Crown, it will be the duty of the board, on the one hand, to reserve for the public purse such proportion of any ultimate profits arising from the beneficial occupation of the soil as may fairly and properly belong to the owner of it; whilst on the other hand, they will carefully abstain from throwing obstacles in the way of public improvements, and will be averse to imposing any such terms as may, especially in the infancy of an undertaking, impede or delay its progress. They will be prepared to consider favourably proposals founded on the basis of determining the rent or royalty according to the profits actually made, or the quantity of oysters or mussels produced or sold by the promoters. In the few cases where the bed of the sea or foreshore to which an application relates belongs to the Crown, and is not transferred to the management of the Board of Trade, but reserved to the Commissioners of Woods, and in cases in which the sea bed or foreshore forms part of the possessions of the Duchies of Lancaster or Cornwall, the consents mentioned in Section 46 of The Sea Fisheries Act, 1868, must be obtained. In cases where the grant of the order applied for would take away or abridge any right of several fishery or any other right enjoyed by any person as specified in Section 48 of The Sea Fisheries Act, the consent of such person must be obtained. In all cases these consents, in writing, must be forwarded with the draft order to the Board of Trade. In cases where the bed of the sea or foreshore to which an application relates does not belong to her Majesty in right of her Crown, or to the Duchies of Lancaster or Cornwall, The Lands Clauses Consolidation Act must be incorporated with the proposed order, as directed by Section 47 of The Sea Fisheries Act. III.-Form of Procedure in Applying for an Order under Part III. of The Sea Fisheries Act, 1868. 1. The first step on the part of the promoters is to transmit a memorial to the Board of Trade, as directed by Section 29 of the Act. The memorial should be transmitted in duplicate, written on common foolscap paper, on one side of the paper only, with a wide margin, and should contain the following information : (a.) A description of the existing conditions of the proposed fishery,— whether it is barren or cultivated, and to what extent; and whether it contains any public or private beds, and in what condition. (b.) A statement of the manner in which it is intended to cultivate the ground applied for. (c.) In the case of an order for regulating a fishery, a precise statement of the nature of the proposed restrictions; of the proposed tolls (if any); of the manner in which they are to be levied and expended; and of the constitution of the corporation or other body by whom the powers in question are to be exer. cised. (d.) A statement of the means in the shape of income or capital possessed or anticipated by the promoters for this purpose. (e.) The names of the owners or reputed owners, lessees or reputed lessees, and occupiers of the soil included in the proposed fishery; and the nature of their title. (f.) Whether any, and if so, what arrangements have been or are proposed to be made with them. The memorial should be also accompanied by the following docu ments : (i.) Where the promoters are a company registered under "The Com panies Act, 1862," by a printed copy of the memorandum of association, articles of association, and any registered special resolution of the company; (ii.) When they are a company formed in any other manner, by a copy of every deed or instrument of settlement, partnership, or incorporation, or Act of Parliament, relating to the company. (iii.) In every instance by a plan in duplicate upon an ordnance map or other chart of the locality, defining accurately the position, area, and boundaries of the ground proposed to be taken, showing what part is above and what below low-water mark, and what part, if any, is above high-water mark. In this map or chart all portions of the sea-bed or estuary below low-water mark not comprised in the proposed fishery are to be coloured blue, and the proposed fishery itself pink, and the area should be stated either in acres or by other measurement. (iv.) In cases where ground is proposed to be taken, which does not belong to her Majesty in right of her Crown or to the Duchy of Lancaster or Cornwall, by a plan of the ground, and a book of reference thereto describing the same, and the owners or reputed owners, lessees or reputed lessees, and occupiers thereof; and (v.) In cases where the construction of works such as piers, jetties, &c., is contemplated, by a plan and sections, and estimate for such works, signed by the persons making the same. (vi.) If the construction of tanks or other similar works of a permanent nature is contemplated, they should be described in the memorial; their dimensions should be given and their sites should be shown on the plan of the fishery. 2. No memorial can be considered by the Board of Trade unless containing the whole of the foregoing information, which should be classified under separate headings in the manner above shown; and the attention of promoters is called to the fact that statements contained in the memorial may, at a subsequent stage of the order, become the subject of local investigation. 3. If, after receiving the memorial, the Board of Trade decides to proceed with the case, the promoters will be required, in accordance with the Act (Section 30), to transmit, in duplicate, a draft of the proposed order, printed on foolscap paper, on one side of each page only, and with a wide margin. An order made by the Board of Trade may include, if desirable, provisions for the constitution of a board or body corporate for the purpose of such order. See Section 29. 4. The promoters will be required to deposit with the draft order at the Board of Trade a fee, the amount of which will depend on the nature of the application; and will, in addition, be required to deposit at the same time and place, or to give security for, such sum as the Board of Trade may require in order to provide for the travelling and personal expenses of the inspector when making the inquiry directed in the 32nd Section of the Act. 5. The draft order, with such modifications as the Board of Trade may require, must be circulated as follows, viz. :— (a.) Twelve copies must be deposited at the Board of Trade. (b.) One copy must be deposited, and lie for public inspection free of charge during the month following the date of the first advertisement mentioned below, at the custom-house of the port, and also of the sub-port or creek (if any) within or adjacent to which the proposed fishery is situate; together with one copy of the plan or ordnance map or chart of the locality showing the limits of the proposed fishery; and two copies of the plan and of the book of reference thereto deposited (if any). (c.) A sufficient number of copies of the draft order must also be deposited at a local office to be named in that behalf in the advertisement mentioned below; such copies to be sold at a charge not exceeding 18. each; and facilities must be given at such office for the inspection of the plans. 6. The promoters must also give notice of the application by public advertisement, to be inserted twice at least in a county or other local newspaper circulating in or near the place where the site of the proposed fishery is situated, and once at least in the Times and London Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. The advertisement must contain a statement, in an abridged form, of all the principal objects of the order. It must also give the address of the local office where the draft order can be seen and obtained, and an intimation that written objections will be received by the Board of Trade during the month following the date of its publication. 7. The promoters must also cause copies of such advertisement to be posted up in conspicuous type, in the form of notices or placards, in at least six places in the neighbourhood of the proposed fishery, where they may be seen by fishermen and others interested in the undertaking ; and, if the Board of Trade so requires, at other places. 8. Copies of the advertisement must also be forwarded by post to or left at the residences of the owners or reputed owners, lessees or reputed lessees, and occupiers (if any) of the portion of the sea-shore to which the draft order relates, and of the lands adjoining thereto. 9. During the month following the date of the first advertisement of the draft order the Board of Trade will receive any objections or representations made to them respecting the same. All such objections must be transmitted in duplicate, written on common foolscap paper on one side of the page only, and with a wide margin. A copy of such objections must also, at the same time, be sent to the promoters; and in sending the objections to the Board of Trade, the objectors or their agents should state that this has been done. A copy of this rule must be printed at the foot of each draft order. 10. No order, when granted, will entitle the promoters to interfere with any lawful purpose of navigation or anchorage (see Section 53 of the Act). Nor will the Board of Trade be disposed to entertain any application which interferes sensibly or materially with the enjoyment and use of the shore for purposes of walking, bathing, boating, beaching, or landing. 11. As soon as conveniently may be after the expiration of the said month, the Board of Trade will send an inspector to hold a sitting or sittings in some suitable place in the neighbourhood of the proposed fishery, and to take and receive evidence, on oath or otherwise, and information offered, as provided for in the 32nd Section of the Act. Notice of such sitting or sittings will be published in one or more local newspapers at least fourteen days before the holding thereof. 12. On the report of the inspector, the Board of Trade will either refuse the application, or make the order in such form and manner as they think expedient; and, in the latter case, the order, so approved, is to be advertised and circulated in the manner already pointed out with regard to the draft order. 13. Orders thus made, advertised, and circulated will afterwards be incorporated in one general Act, and submitted for the sanction of Parliament, as directed in Sections 37 and 38 of the Act. 14. The promoters must be prepared to prove compliance with the regulations as to the publication of notices, circulation and deposit of draft order, &c., herein before set forth, and of the order itself when finally approved. Forms of proof for this purpose will be prepared, and the promoters or their agent will be required to attend for the purpose at the Board of Trade. Board of Trade, Harbour Department, C. CECIL TREVOR. The following is a skeleton Form of Order for the establishment and maintenance of an oyster and mussel fishery : (1.) ORDER FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE BY THE OYSTER COMPANY, LIMITED, of an Oyster and Mussel Fishery at in the Estuary of the in the 1. The Oyster Company, Limited, (in this Order called, the Company,) shall be the undertakers of the fishery mentioned in this order. 2. For the purposes of the fishery and works authorised by this order, the company may from time to time enter on, take, and use all or any part of the lands described in the plans and book of reference deposited for the purposes of this order. 3. The Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, and The Lands Clauses Consolidation Acts Amendment Act, 1860, are hereby incorporated with this order. (If the land belongs to the Crown or to the Duchies of Lancaster or Cornwall these two clauses will not apply, and must be omitted.) 4. The following are the company's fishery grounds (as shown on plans deposited at the Board of Trade); parts of the foreshore and bed of the several parishes of an area of to say : in the county of under this order namely, all those situate within the containing or thereabouts; and bounded as follows, that is (Here insert an accurate description of the locality, position, and boundary lines of the fishery.) 5. This order confers on the company a right of oyster and mussel fishery within the limits above mentioned. 6. The limits of the said several fishery shall be marked out as follows; that is to say : 7. In the event of the marks by the last foregoing article prescribed being obliterated by storm or otherwise, they shall be replaced by the company, and notice of the said limits may be given to fishermen, dredgermen, and other persons as follows; that is to say : 8. No buildings, erections, embankments, or other works, other than |