Fisheries Loans Act (Cap. 109)

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 1. Short title. 2. Interpretation. 3. Loans to owners of fishing boats. 4. Property subject to such lien not to be sold without consent. 5. Register of loans to be kept by the chief officer. 6. Offence to obstruct officers in performance of duty. CHAPTER 109 FISHERIES LOANS ACT An Act to make provision for assisting the fishing industry by way of loans for the building of fishing boats and for the equipment thereof with engines and sails. [Amended by SRO 15 of 1959.] [12th September, 1956.] 2. Interpretation In this Act— “chief officer” means the Chief Technical Officer (Extension) and includes any officer of the Ministry of Agriculture lawfully authorised by him or her to act on his or her behalf for the purposes of this Act; “fishing boat” means any boat propelled by sail or engine which is used for the purpose of capturing fish for gain; “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations. 3. Loans to owners of fishing boats (1) It shall be lawful for the Minister, out of funds provided by Parliament, to make loans to bona fide fishermen and to the owners of fishing boats in accordance with the regulations contained in the subsidiary legislation to this Act. (2) The regulations may, from time to time, be amended by regulations made by the Minister. (3) All regulations made under this Act shall be laid before the House of Representatives at the next meeting after they are made and if within a period of forty days beginning with the day on which such regulations are laid before it the House of Representatives resolves that the regulations be annulled, they shall forthwith be void, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder or to the making of new regulations. (4) In reckoning any such period of forty days no account shall be taken of any time during which the House of Representatives is dissolved or prorogued for more than seven days. (5) All such loans shall be a first lien or charge against the fishing boat, materials, engine and sail in respect of which the debt was incurred. (6) Where the total amount of the loan exceeds or is likely to exceed one hundred dollars the chief officer may require the owner to execute a bill of sale or to produce a guarantee executed by some person approved by the chief officer in respect of the boat and its accessories in favour of the chief officer. 4. Property subject to such lien not to be sold without consent A person who, without the prior consent of the Minister, sells or otherwise disposes of, or attempts to sell or otherwise dispose of, any fishing boat or material, engine or sail which is subject to a lien or charge under this Act shall be guilty of an offence against this Act and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of five hundred dollars and to imprisonment for six months. 5. Register of loans to be kept by the chief officer (1) The chief officer shall keep a register of all fishing boats in respect of which loans have been granted under this Act and shall cause to be entered therein from time to time, in respect of such fishing boats, such particulars as may be prescribed. (2) The chief officer shall issue to the owner of every such fishing boat a certificate of registration in such form as may be prescribed. (3) Every fishing boat so registered shall be accorded a distinguishing number, and it shall be the duty of the owner of a fishing boat so registered to cause this number to be indelibly inscribed and maintained on the bow and stern of the boat in such a manner as to render it legible at a distance of not less than fifty yards, and if any such owner fails in such duty he or she shall be guilty of an offence in terms of this Act and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of five hundred dollars and to imprisonment for three months. 6. Offence to obstruct officers in performance of duty If any person shall hinder, obstruct, molest or attempt to hinder, obstruct or molest the chief officer in the performance of his or her duties under this Act, he or she shall be guilty of an offence against this Act and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of five hundred dollars and to imprisonment for three months.