Part I Prohibition of Certain Methods of Taking and Destroying Fish

7A Offence of possessing salmon which have been illegally taken, killed or landed.
(1) A person who—
(a) is in possession of salmon and believes; or
(b) is in possession of salmon in circumstances in which it would be reasonable for him to suspect
that a relevant offence has at any time been committed in relation to the salmon shall be guilty of an offence and liable—
(i) on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(ii) on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine or both.
(2) It shall be a defence in preceedings for an offence under this section to show that no relevant offence had in fact been committed in relation to the salmon.
(3) It shall be lawful to convict a person charged under this section on the evidence of one witness.
(4) For the purposes of this section an offence is a relevant offence in relation to a salmon if—
(a) it is committed by taking, killing or landing that salmon, either in Scotland or in England and Wales; or
(b) that salmon is taken, killed or landed, either in Scotland or in England and Wales in the course of the commission of the offence.
(5) In subsection (4) above, “offence”, in relation to the taking, killing or landing of salmon either in Scotland or in England or Wales, means an offence under the law applicable to the place where the salmon is taken, killed or landed.
(6) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under this section in respect of conduct which constitutes a relevant offence in relation to any salmon or in respect of anything done in good faith for purposes connected with the prevention or detection of crime or the investigation or treatment of disease.
(7) Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(8) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (7) above shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.
S. 7A inserted by Salmon Act 1986 (c. 62, SIF 52:2), s. 22(1)