Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1868

1 Short Title.

This Act may be cited for all Purposes as " The Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act, 1868."

2 Recited Acts and this Act to be as One.

The recited Acts and this Act shall be read and construed together as One Act.

3 Appointment of District Board where none exists at the passing of this Act.

Where in any District a District Board has not been constituted before the passing of this Act, it shall be lawful for any Two Proprietors of Salmon Fishings in the District, whether there be at the present Time Salmon in the Waters of the District or not, to present a Petition to the Sheriff praying that a District Board may be constituted, and the Sheriff shall thereupon direct the Sheriff Clerk to make up a Roll of the Upper Proprietors and a Roll of the Lower Proprietors in the District, and the Sheriff shall thereafter direct the Sheriff Clerk to call a Meeting of the Upper Proprietors, and also a Meeting of the Lower Proprietors, at such Time and Place as he shall direct, and Notice of such Meeting shall be given by Advertisement inserted once at least in Two successive Weeks in a Newspaper printed or circulating in the County or Counties in which the District is situated, and at the same Time with the said Notice the Sheriff shall direct the Sheriff's Clerk also to intimate the Time and Place, at which the First Meeting of the Board shall be held, after its Election; and the Upper Proprietors and Lower Proprietors present at such separate Meetings respectively shall elect Members of the District Board in the Manner provided in the first-recited Act; and the First Meeting of the said District Board shall be held at the Time appointed by the Sheriff as aforesaid, unless the Upper Proprietors and the Lower Proprietors agree together to appoint another Time and Place for the First Meeting.

4 Roll of Proprietors to be made up.

The Clerk of each District Board, constituted under the recited Acts or this Act, shall make up and keep Rolls of the Upper and Lower Proprietors in the District, and correct the same from Time to Time whenever a new Valuation Roll comes into force ; and at any Meeting of the District Board it shall he lawful for any Person whose Name has been erroneously struck out or omitted from the said Roll to apply to the District Board to have his Name entered therein, or for any Person whose Name is on the Roll for the District to object to the Name of any other Person being entered or remaining on the said Roll on the Ground that he does not appear on the Valuation Roll to be qualified, or that he does not possess the requisite Frontage to the River; and if it shall be proved to the Satisfaction of the Board that such Claim or such Objection is well founded, the Board shall direct their Clerk to enter or strike out the Name accordingly, as shall appear to them just; and if any Person shall be dissatisfied with the Decision of the Board, he may appeal by summary Petition to the Sheriff of the County within which the Subjects affording his Qualification, or the greater Part thereof, are situated; and the Sheriffs Decision shall be final, but in such Appeal the Jurisdiction of the Sheriff shall not extend to Questions of Heritable Bight.

5 Provisions for Valuation of Fisheries.

Where any Fishery is not entered in the Valuation Roll, or where any Fishery is entered in the Valuation Roll along with and as a Part of other Subjects, the County Assessor shall, on being required by the Clerk to the District Board, value and enter such Fishery in the Valuation Roll separately from other Subjects ; and where any Fishery or Rod Fishing when let in the Sea happens to be situate in Two separate Districts, the County Assessor shall, on being required by the Clerk of either District, value and enter separately in the Valuation Roll the annual Value of such Fishery situate in the respective Districts.

6 Vacancies or Defect in Qualification not to vitiate Proceedings of Board.

No Act or Proceeding of a District Board shall be questioned on account of any Vacancy or Vacancies in their Body, and no Defect in the Qualification or Appointment of any Person or Persons acting as a Member or Members of such Board shall be deemed to vitiate any Proceedings of such Board in which he or they have taken part.

7 Evidence of Proceedings at Meetings.

The Minutes of the Proceedings of every Meeting of a District Board shall be signed by the Chairman ; and any Minute of Proceedings of any Meeting of such Board, signed by the Chairman of that Meeting, shall be receivable in Evidence in all legal Proceedings without further Proof; and, until the contrary is proved, every Meeting of the Board in respect of which Minutes have been so made and signed shall be deemed to have been duly convened and held, and all the Members thereof to have been duly qualified. On Requisition in "Writing by any Two Members of a District Board, the Chairman shall be bound to convene a Meeting of the Board within a Fortnight of the Date of the Requisition, and the Clerk of the Board shall give Notice to each Member, by Circular, of the Date of said Meeting, and of the Business to be brought before it.

8 Mandatories may be appointed Members of District Board.

The Factor or Mandatory of any Proprietor of a Fishery (including the Factor or Mandatory of the Commissioners or Commissioner of Woods in charge of the Land Revenues of the Crown in Scotland where Her Majesty is the Proprietor of a Fishery) shall he qualified to be and may be elected as a Member of any District Board, and shall have all the Powers and Privileges which the Proprietors by whom he is appointed could have had under the recited Acts or this Act; and any Member of any District Board appointed under the Powers of the recited Acts, or any of them, or this Act, may from Time to Time nominate and appoint, by "Writing under his Hand, any Person as the Mandatory of such Member to attend, act, and vote at any Meeting of such District Board; and every such Nomination and Appointment shall subsist until recalled by the Member making the same.

9 Power of Secretary of State to alter Regulations.

Any District Board at any Meeting, of which due Notice has been given by Advertisement at least Ten Days previously in a Newspaper printed or circulated in the County or Counties in which the District is situated, may resolve to petition the Secretary of State to do any of the following Things :

(1) To vary the Annual Close Time in such District, provided that such Annual Close Time shall always be One hundred and sixty-eight Days:

(2) To vary the Weekly Close Time in such District, or in different Parts of such District, provided that the Weekly Close Time or such Weekly Close Times shall always be Thirty-six Hours:

(3) To alter the Regulations with respect to the Observance of Annual or Weekly Close Time in so far as they relate to such District:

(4) To alter the Regulations with respect to the Construction and Use of Cruives and Cruive Dykes or Weirs within such District, provided such Alterations do not injure the Supply of Water to any Person entitled to use any existing Cruive Dyke as a Dam Dyke.

And such Petition, authenticated by the Signature of the Chairman of the Board, shall be transmitted to the Secretary of State by the Clerk of the Board, after Notice thereof has been given by Advertisement once at least in each of Two successive Weeks in a Newspaper printed or circulating in the County or Counties in which the District is situated, and the Secretary of State may direct such Inquiry to be made, and such Notice thereof to be given, as he shall think fit.

And any Alteration petitioned for in such Manner by any District Board may be made by the Secretary of State, if he shall see fit, by Order under his Hand, and such Order shall be published in the Edinburgh Gazette, and a Copy of the Edinburgh Gazette containing such Order shall be Evidence of the same having been made; but the Secretary of State shall not entertain any such Petition until it shall be proved to him, by such Evidence as he shall think satisfactory, that Notice of such Petition has been duly given in manner aforesaid : Provided that such Alteration shall not interfere with any Rights held at the Time of the passing of this Act under Royal Grant or Charter, or possessed for Time immemorial.

10 Byelaws to be valid until altered by Secretary of State.

The Byelaws contained in the Schedules (A.), (B.), (C), (D.), (E.), (F.), and (G.) to this Act annexed shall in all respects he held to have been duly made and published, but only in so far as consistent with and authorized by the recited Acts, and to such Extent shall be as valid and binding as if the same had been expressly enacted in this Act: Provided always, that notwithstanding the Terms of the said recited Acts, any such Byelaw shall be valid and binding as aforesaid although it includes in One District more than One River, or makes Provisions with respect to a District including more than One River, or to Two or more Districts having assigned to them a common Estuary,

11 Acts not to apply to Streams not frequented by Salmon.

Notwithstanding anything contained in or authorized by this Act or the recited Acts, no Regulations with respect to the Construction and Alteration of Mill Dams or Lades or "Waterwheels, so as" to afford a reasonable Means for the Passage of Salmon, shall apply to Streams or Branches or Tributaries of Rivers which are of such small Size as not to be frequented by Salmon, nor to Dam Dykes which in their existing State at the Time and in the average State of the River do not obstruct the Passage of Salmon; and where in any existing Intake Lade there is at present a sufficient Sluice, it shall not be necessary to remove said Sluice to a higher Point of the Lade, nor to construct an additional Sluice at the Intake thereof; and it shall be lawful to lift any Heck from out the Water as a Means of Protection during a Flood, or when the River is encumbered with Ice, or with Weeds and floating Leaves to an Extent to choke the Heck.

12 Byelaws not to apply to Watercourse or Mill-lade of Kinnaber.

And whereas the Royal Burgh of Montrose is supplied with Water from Sources adjoining the River North Esk, which Water is raised to the Point of Distribution by means of Water Power derived from a Watercourse or Mill-lade having its Intake at Morphie Dam Dyke on the said River, and returning to the River at a Point near the Lower North Water Bridge on the said River, commonly called the Mill-lade of Kinnaber, and great Inconvenience would arise from the Application to the said Watercourse or Mill-lade of certain of the Byelaws by this Act made valid and binding: Be it enacted, That nothing in the said Byelaws, or in this or in the recited Acts, or any of them, as to the placing of Hecks or Gratings, or the shutting of Sluices at the Intake of Mill-lades or Watercourses, shall apply to the said Watercourse or Mill-lade known as the Mill-lade of Kinnaber, excepting in so far as regards the lowering of the Intake Sluice during the Weekly-Close Time, and then only so as to leave a free Space during such Close Time of not less than Eighteen Inches between the Bottom of the Sluice and the Sill or Bed of such Mill-lade or Watercourse.

13 Power to the Board to purchase and remove Dams by Agreement.

The District Board shall by Agreement (which Agreement any Heir of Entail or other Person under Disability is hereby empowered to make with such Board, and to implement,) have Power to purchase, for the Purpose only of Removal, any Dam, Weir, Cruives, or other Fixed Engines they may deem it expedient to remove for the Benefit of the fisheries in their District, and to remove any natural Obstructions to the Passage of Fish in the Bed of a River, or to attach a Fish Pass to any Waterfall, and generally to execute such Works, do such Acts, and incur such Expenses as may appear to them expedient for the Protection or Improvement of the Fisheries within their District, the Increase of Salmon, or the stocking of the Waters therewith; but it shall not be lawful for the Board to pay to any Member of the Board any Salary or fees for his acting in any way as a Member of or under the Board; provided that such Powers of Purchase shall not be exercised unless the Resolution of the District Board shall have been consented to by the Proprietors representing Four Fifths in Value of the Fishings on the Roll in the District.

14 Power to the Board to borrow Money.

Any Expenses incurred by the District Board in carrying out the Provisions of this Act may be defrayed out of the Assessment which they are empowered to lay on by the first-recited Act; and any District Board may, for the Purpose of defraying any Charge or Expenses incurred by them under the Powers of the last Section, with the Consent of the Secretary of State, borrow and take up at Interest, on the Credit of any Assessment they are authorized by the first-recited Act to impose, such Sum of Money as may be necessary for defraying such Charge or Expenses, not exceeding the Amount of Two Years Assessments authorized by the said first-recited Act.

15 Penalties for Offences.

Sections Eleven and Twelve of the first-recited Act are hereby repealed, and in place thereof it is enacted as follows: Every Person who commits any of the following Offences,—

(1) Who fishes for, takes, or attempts to take, or aids or assists in fishing for, taking, or attempting to take, Salmon during the Annual Close Time by any Means other than Rod and Line;

(2) Who fishes for, takes, or attempts to take, or aids or assists in fishing for, taking, or attempting to take, Salmon (except during Saturday or Monday by Rod and Line) during the Weekly Close Time, or contravenes in any way any Byelaw in force regarding the Observance thereof;

(3) Who fishes for or takes, or aids in fishing for or taking, Salmon during the Annual Close Time by means of Rod and Line at a Period not sanctioned by the Byelaws-in force in the District;

(4) Who fishes for or aids in fishing for Salmon with a Net having a Mesh contrary to any Byelaw;

(5) Who sets or uses, or aids in setting or using, a Net or any other Engine for the Capture of Salmon when leaping at or trying to ascend any Fall or other Impediment, or when falling back after leaping;

(6) Who does any Act for the Purpose of preventing Salmon from passing through any Fish Pass, or taking any Salmon in its Passage through the same;

(7) Who wilfully puts or causes to be put, or neglects to take reasonable Precautions to prevent the Discharge of, any Sawdust, or any Chaff, or any Shelling of Corn into any River;

(8) Who in any way contravenes any Byelaw,

shall for every such Offence be liable to a Penalty not exceeding Five Pounds, and to a further Penalty not exceeding Two Pounds for every Salmon taken or killed in an illegal Manner, and shall forfeit the Salmon so taken; and all Penalties imposed under this Act and the recited Acts, or any of them, shall be in addition to the Costs and Expenses of Prosecution and Conviction.

16 Amendment of Sect. 13 of 25 & 26 Vict. c. 97.

The Thirteenth Section of the first-recited Act shall hereafter he read and construed as if the Words "or who shall discharge into any River Sawdust" therein contained were struck out of the Section.

17 Penalties for using Lights, &c.

Every Person that shall use any Light or Eire of any kind, or any Spear, Leister, Gaff, or other like Instrument, or Otter, for catching Salmon, or any Instrument for dragging for Salmon, or have in his Possession a Light or any of the foresaid Instruments under such Circumstances as to satisfy the Court before whom he is tried that he intended at the Time to catch Salmon by means thereof, shall be liable to a Penalty not exceeding Five Pounds, and shall forfeit any of the foresaid Instruments and any Salmon found in his Possession; but this Section shall not apply to any Person using a Gaff as auxiliary to angling with a Rod and Line.

18 Penalty for using Roe.

Every Person that shall use any Fish Roe for the Purpose of Fishing, and every Person that shall buy, sell, or expose for Sale, or have in his Possession, any Salmon Roe, shall for every such Offence he liable to a Penalty not exceeding Two Pounds, and shall forfeit all Salmon Roe found in his Possession; but this Section shall not apply to any Person who uses or has in his Possession Salmon Roe for artificial Propagation or scientific Purposes, or gives any Reason satisfactory to the Court by whom he is tried for having the same in his Possession.

19 Penalties for destroying the Young of Salmon, or disturbing Spawning Beds.

Every Person who shall wilfully take or destroy any Smolt or Salmon Fry, or shall buy, sell, or expose for Sale, or have in his Possession, the same, or shall place any Device or Engine for the Purpose of obstructing the Passage of the same, or shall wilfully injure the same, or shall wilfully injure or disturb any Salmon Spawn, or disturb any Spawning Bed, or any Bank or shallow in which the Spawn of Salmon may be, or during the Annual Close Time shall obstruct or impede Salmon in their Passage to any such Bed, Bank, or shallow, shall be liable to a Penalty not exceeding Five Pounds for every such Offence, and shall forfeit every Rod, Line, Net, Device, or Engine used in committing any such Offence, and shall forfeit any Smolt or Salmon Fry that may be found in his Possession; but nothing herein contained shall apply to Acts done for the Purpose of artificial Propagation of Salmon or other scientific Purpose, or in the course of cleaning or repairing any Dam or Mill-lade, or in the course of the Exercise of Rights of Property in the Bed of any River or Stream : Provided also, that the District Board may, with the Consent of all the Proprietors of Salmon Fisheries in any River or Estuary, adopt such Means as they think fit for preventing the Ingress of Salmon into narrow Streams in which they or the Spawning Beds are from the Nature of the Channel liable to be destroyed, but always so that no Water Rights used or enjoyed for the Purposes of Manufactures, or agricultural Purposes or Drainage, shall be interfered with thereby.

20 Penalties for taking unclean Salmon.

Every Person who shall wilfully take, fish for, or attempt to take, or aid or assist in taking, fishing for, or attempting to take, any unclean or unseasonable Salmon, or who shall buy, sell, or expose for Sale, or have in his Possession, any unclean or unseasonable Salmon, shall be liable to a Penalty not exceeding Five Pounds in respect of each such Fish taken, sold, or exposed for Sale, or in his Possession, and shall forfeit every such Fish; but this Section shall not apply to any Person who takes such Fish accidentally, and forthwith returns the same to the Water with the least possible Injury, or to any Person who takes or is in possession of such Fish for artificial Propagation or scientific Purposes.

21 Penalty for buying or selling Salmon in Close Time.

Any Person who shall buy, sell, or expose for Sale, or have in his Possession, any Salmon taken within the Limits of this Act between the Commencement of the latest and the Termination of the earliest Annual Close Time which is in force at the Time for any District, shall be liable to a Penalty not exceeding Five Pounds, and to a further Penalty not exceeding Two Pounds for every Salmon so bought, sold, or exposed for Sale, or in his Possession; and any Salmon so bought, sold, or exposed for Sale, or in his Possession, shall be forfeited; and the Burden of proving that any such Salmon was caught beyond the Limits of this Act shall lie on the Person selling or exposing the same for Sale, or having the same in his Possession.

22 Provision as to Exportation of Salmon.

All Salmon intended for Exportation shall be entered for that Purpose with the proper Officer of Customs at the Port or Place of intended Exportation before Shipment thereof; and any Salmon shipped or exported or brought to any Wharf, Quay, or other Place for Exportation between the Commencement of the latest and the Termination of the earliest Annual Close Time for any District in Scotland contrary to this Section shall be forfeited, unless Proof be given to the Satisfaction of the Commissioners of Customs of the Salmon having been legally captured, and the Person, so illegally shipping or exporting or bringing the same for Exportation shall be liable to a Penalty not exceeding Two Pounds for every Salmon so shipped or exported or brought for Exportation; and no Salmon caught by Rod and Line during the Annual Close Time for Net-fishing shall be shipped, exported, or brought for Exportation under the like Penalties; and any Officer of Customs may during the aforesaid Period open any Parcel entered or intended for Exportation, or brought to any Quay, Wharf, or Place for that Purpose, and suspected by him to contain Salmon, and may detain any Salmon found in such Parcel until Proof is given to the Satisfaction of the Commissioners of Customs of the Salmon being such as may be legally exported; and if the Salmon before such Proof is given become unfit for Human food the Officer of Customs may destroy the same.

23 All Boats and other Engines to be removed during Annual Close Time.

The Proprietor or Occupier of any Fishery shall within Thirty-six Hours after the Commencement of the Annual Close Time remove and carry from such Fishery, and from the Landing Places and Grounds adjacent thereto, all Boats, Oars, Nets, Engines, and other Tackle used or employed by such Occupier in taking Salmon, and effectually secure the same so as to prevent their being used in fishing until the End of the Close Time, with the Exception of such Boats and Oars as may be used for angling; and the Proprietor or Occupier of any Cruive shall within Thirty-six Hours after the Commencement of the Annual Close Time remove and carry away all the Hecks, Hails, and Inscales, and effectually secure the same so as to prevent their being used in fishing, and shall also remove all Planks and temporary Fixtures and other Obstructions to the free Passage of Pish through the Cruive; and any Proprietor or Occupier who neglects to remove and carry away and effectually secure in manner aforesaid any Boat, Oar, Net, Engine, or other Tackle, or any Heck, Rail, or Inscale, or any Obstruction to the Passage of Salmon through a Cruive, shall forfeit every Engine and Thing not removed and carried away in compliance with the Terms of this Section, and for every Day during which he suffers any such Engine or Thing to remain unremoved beyond the Period prescribed in this Act he shall be liable to a Penalty not exceeding Ten Pounds : Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall apply to any Ferry Boat, or prevent any Proprietor of Lands from continuing any Boat for the Use of himself or of his Family if such Boat shall have the Name of the Proprietor painted thereon, and be secured, when not in use for lawful Purposes, by Lock and Key.

24 Penalties on Proprietor or Occupier for Breach of Weekly Close Time.

The Proprietor, or when let the Occupier, of every Fishery at which Stake, Weir, or Stake Nets, Ely Nets, or Bag Nets are used, shall in regard to such Nets do all Acts required by any Byelaw in force within the District in which such Fishery is situated for the due Observance of the Weekly Close Time; and if any such Proprietor or Occupier shall omit to do any Act so required he shall incur the following Penalties; that is to say,

1.

He shall forfeit the Net or Nets with regard to which such Omission has occurred:

2.

He shall for each Weekly Close Time during any Part of which such Omission has occurred pay, in respect of each Net to which the Proof of such Omission applies, a Sum not exceeding Ten Pounds, and a further Sum not exceeding Two Pounds for every Salmon taken or killed by means of such Nets during the said Weekly Close Time.

25 Amendment of 7 & 8 Vict. c. 95.

In order the better to carry out the Provisions of the Act of the Seventh and Eighth Years of Her present Majesty, Chapter Ninety-five, it shall be lawful for any Water Bailiff, Constable, Watcher, or Officer of any District Board, or any Police Officer, to search all Boats, Boat Tackle, Nets, or other Engines, and all Receptacles, whether at Sea or on Shore, which he or they may have reason to suspect may contain Salmon captured in contravention of the said last-mentioned Act, and to seize all Salmon found in the Possession of Persons not having a Right to fish Salmon, and the Possession of such Salmon shall he held primâ facie Evidence of the Purpose of the Possessor to contravene the Provisions of the said last-mentioned Act: Provided also, that the Words " the said recited Act " contained in the Second Section of the last-mentioned Act shall he read and construed as if they meant and included this Act and the Acts recited therein.

26 Sheriff or Justice may-grant Warrant to search Premises.

It shall he lawful for the Sheriff or any Justice of the Peace, upon an Information on Oath that there is probable Cause to suspect any Breach of the Provisions of this Act to have been committed on any Premises, or any Salmon illegally taken, or any illegal Nets or other Engines or Instruments, to be concealed on any Premises, by Warrant under his Hand to authorize and empower any Water Bailiff, Constable, Watcher, or other Officer of the Board, or Police Officer, to enter such Premises for the Purpose of detecting such Offence, or" such concealed Fish or Instruments, at such Time or Times in the Day or Night as in such Warrant may be mentioned, and to seize all illegal Nets, Engines, or other Instruments, or any Salmon illegally taken, that may be found on such Premises ; provided that no such Warrant shall continue in force for more than One Week from the Date thereof.

27 Constables or Water Bailiffs entering on Lands not to be deemed Trespassers.

Any Water Bailiff, Constable, Watcher, or Officer of the Board, or any Police Officer, may enter and remain upon any Lands in the Vicinity of any River or of the Sea Coast during any Hour of the Day and Night for the Purpose of preventing a Breach of the Provisions of this or the recited Acts, or of detecting the Persons guilty of any Breach thereof, and no such Person entering and remaining upon such Lands as aforesaid shall be deemed to be a Trespasser: Provided always, that the Owner or Occupier of such Land may require such Person to quit, and such Person may on Refusal be proceeded against as a Trespasser, and shall be liable to the Penalties, unless he shall prove to the Satisfaction of the Sheriff or Justices before whom he is tried that he had reason to apprehend a Breach of the Law had been or was about to be committed.

28 Board and its Officers to have Access to examine Dams, Weirs, &c.

Any Member of the District Board, or "Water Bailiff, Constable, Watcher, or Officer of the Board, or any Police Officer, may examine any Dam, Weir, Cruive, or Fixed Engine -within the Limits of the District, or any artificial Watercourse in that District; and any Owner or Occupier of any such Dam, Weir, Cruive, or Fixed Engine, or artificial Watercourse, refusing Access thereto to any such Member of the Board, Water Bailiff, Constable, or Officer of the Board, or any Police Officer, shall be liable to a Penalty not exceeding five Pounds for each Offence; and any Member of the Board, or Water Bailiff, Constable, Watcher, or Officer of the Board, or any Police Officer, may search all Boats, Nets, Baskets, or Bags and other Instruments used in fishing for Salmon, or which he may have reason to suspect may contain Salmon illegally taken, and he may seize all illegal Nets, or Nets being used illegally, and other Instruments of fishing, and all Pish and other Articles liable to be forfeited under the Provisions of this Act, and generally may act as a Constable for the Enforcement of the Provisions of this Act, and when so acting shall be deemed to be a Constable.

29 Apprehension of Offenders.

It shall be lawful for any Person, without any Warrant or other Authority than this Act, brevi manu to seize and detain any Person who shall be found committing any Offence contained in the first Six Sub-divisions of the fifteenth Section, or in the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, Twenty-first, and Twenty-second Sections of this Act, and to carry such Person before any Sheriff or Justice of the Peace or other Magistrate, or to deliver such Person to a Constable, who is hereby required to carry such Person before a Justice of the Peace or other Magistrate, who shall forthwith examine and discharge or commit such Person until Caution de judicio sisti be found, as the Case may require.

30 Prosecution for Offences under this Act, and Recovery of Penalties.

All Offences under this Act may be prosecuted, and all Penalties incurred under this- Act may be recovered, before any Sheriff or any Two or more Justices acting together, and; having Jurisdiction in the Place where the Offence was committed, at the Instance of the Clerk of. any District Board, or of any other Person; and it shall be lawful for the Sheriff or Justices to whom any Petition or Complaint is presented to proceed in a summary Form, and to grant Warrant for bringing the Persons complained against before him or them, or for citing them to appear before him or them, and on Proof on Oath by One or more credible Witness or Witnesses, or Confession of the Person accused, or other legal Evidence, forthwith to determine and give Judgment in such Complaint, without any written Pleadings or Record of Evidence other than a Record of the Charge and of the Judgment pronounced thereon, and to grant Warrant for the Recovery of all Penalties and Expenses decerned for by Poinding, and Imprisonment for any Period not exceeding Six Months ; and any Person who shall think himself aggrieved by any Judgment of the Sheriff or Justices pronounced in any Complaint or Prosecution under this Act may appeal to the Court of Justiciary at their next Circuit Court, or where there is no Circuit Court to the High Court of Justiciary at Edinburgh, in the Manner and under the Rules, Limitations, Conditions, and Restrictions contained in the Act passed in the Twentieth Tear of the Reign of His Majesty King George the Second, Chapter Forty-three, for taking away and abolishing Heritable Jurisdictions in Scotland, with this Variation that such Person shall, in place of finding Caution in the Terms prescribed by the said Act, be bound to find Caution to pay the Penalty and Expenses awarded against him by the Judgment appealed from in the event of such Appeal being dismissed, together with any additional Expenses that shall be awarded by the Circuit Court or Court of Justiciary on dismissing such Appeal; and it shall not be competent to appeal from or bring the Judgments of any Sheriff or Justices acting under this Act under Review by Advocation, or in any other "Way than as herein provided.

31 Forfeiture of Articles found in possession of any Offender.

Every Person found guilty of any Offence against any of the Provisions of the recited Acts or any of them, or of this Act, shall, in addition to any other Penalties to which he may he liable, at the Discretion of the Sheriff or Justices before whom he has been tried, forfeit every Boat, Net, Rod, Line, Gaff, Spear, Leister, or other Article or Instrument of whatever kind which has been or may be used in fishing for or in taking Salmon, and which is found in the Possession of such Person at the Time of committing such Offence, and which was capable of being used in the Commission of such Offence, and also any Salmon that may be found in his Possession.

32 Forfeited Articles may be seized.

Where any Salmon, Net, Rod, Line, or other Article directed to he forfeited under this Act has been seized by any Constable, Water Bailiff, Watcher, or other Officer appointed by the Board or by any Police Officer, the Sheriff or Justices may order the same to be destroyed or handed over to the District Board, or to the Person prosecuting, to be disposed of as such Board or Person prosecuting may think fit.

33 Minimum Penalties.

The Penalty in respect of any Offence under this Act, or the recited Acts, shall, on a Conviction for a Second Offence, he not less than One Half the greatest Penalty capable of being imposed in respect of such Offence, and on a Conviction for a Third or subsequent Offence the greatest Amount of Penalty mentioned in this Act shall be imposed; and any Boat, Net, Rod, Line, or other Article or Thing used in the Commission of any Offence under this Act, or found in the Possession of the Offender, shall be forfeited.

34 As to Disqualification of Justices.

No Justice of the Peace shall he disqualified from hearing any Case arising under this Act by reason of his being a Member of a District Board ; provided that no Justice shall be entitled to hear any Case in respect of an Offence committed on his own Fishery.

35 Offences on Boundary Rivers or on Sea Coast where to he tried.

Where any Offence under this Act is committed in or upon any Waters forming the Boundary between any Two Counties, such Offence may be prosecuted before a Sheriff or Two Justices of the Peace in either of such Counties, and any Offence committed under this Act on the Sea Coast, or at Sea beyond the ordinary Jurisdiction of any Sheriff or Justices of the Peace, shall be held to have been committed within the Body of any County abutting on such Sea Coast, or adjoining such Sea, and may be tried and punished accordingly.

36 Fishing illegal where prohibited by existing Law.

It shall not he lawful to fish for or take Salmon at any Place or by any Mode prohibited by any Statute relating to Salmon or Salmon Fisheries in Scotland subsisting and in force at the Date of this Act; and nothing contained in this Act or in any Byelaw shall render legal any Mode of fishing which was or would have been illegal at the Date of the passing of this Act.

37 Title to sue.

Any Proprietor of a Fishery shall he held to have a good Title and Interest at Law to sue by Action any other Proprietor or Occupier of a Fishery within the District, or any other Person who shall use any illegal Engine or illegal Mode of fishing for catching Salmon within the District.

38 Expenses may be decerned for.

In giving Judgment on any Application or Complaint under this Act the Sheriff or Justices may find the Person complaining or complained against liable in Expenses, and may decern for Payment of the same.

39 Recovery of Penalties and Expenses.

All Penalties and Expenses incurred under this Act, or under any Byelaw or Regulation made under the Authority thereof, may he recovered by ordinary Action or in the Small Debt Court of the Sheriff.

40 Payment and Application of Penalties.

The Penalties incurred under this Act shall in all Prosecutions at the Instance of the Clerk of any District Board, or by any Person authorized by any District Board, be payable to and recoverable by such Clerk, and shall in all other Cases be paid and applied in such Manner as the Sheriff or Justices may direct; and all Penalties and Expenses received by the Clerk, and the Proceeds of the Sale of any Articles seized and directed to be sold as before provided, shall be applied by the District Board towards defraying the Expenses incurred by them in carrying into execution the Provisions of this Act.

41 Extent of Act.

This Act shall not extend to England or Ireland; and no Part of this Act, except the Thirteenth, Eighteenth, Twentieth, and Thirty-third Sections thereof, shall apply to the River Tweed as defined by the Tweed Fisheries Act, 1859; and the Penalties imposed by this Act, so far as applicable to the River Tweed and its Fisheries, shall be recoverable and applicable in the same Manner as Penalties imposed by the Tweed Fisheries Act, 1857; and the Sections of this Act hereby applied to the River Tweed shall be read and taken as if they formed Part of such last-mentioned Act and of Tweed Fisheries Amendment Act, 1859; and the "Words " District Board" in the said Sections shall signify the Board of Commissioners of the River Tweed.

42 Repeal of Part of 22d and of 25th Sections of 25 & 26 Vict. c.97.

So much of the Twenty-second Section of " The Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act, 1862," as confers on District Boards the Power "to make and alter from Time to Time Regulations for the " Preservation of the Fisheries in the District," and the Twenty-fifth Section of said Act, are hereby repealed.

43 This Act not to affect Liabilities incurred Or Offences committed.

This Act shall not affect any Action or Prosecution which has been or may hereafter he begun in respect of any Liability incurred or Offence committed before the passing of this Act.