The Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 is a law passed by the government of the United Kingdom in an attempt to protect

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

and

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

from commercial poaching, to protect migration routes, to prevent willful

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term ...

and neglect of fisheries, ensure correct licensing and water authority approval. This helps to sustain the rural inland freshwater fisheries industry, which employs around 37,000 people in the UK.

Background

The United Kingdom has a long history of legislation designed to regulate rivers and their associated fisheries, beginning with a clause in the Magna Carta of 1215, concerning the removal of weirs from the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and River Medway, to benefit both navigation and fisheries. Edward I legislated that there should be a gap in weirs on the rivers Eden, Esk and Derwent, through which ''"a sow and her five little pigs can enter"'', to allow fish to migrate along the rivers, and introduced a close season during which salmon could not be removed from rivers in his Statute of Westminster dating from 1285. A parliamentary select committee was convened in 1825, to consider the salmon fisheries of the United Kingdom. Its remit was to report on the state of the fisheries, and the legislation that affected them, but it did not result in any action being taken. There was a general perception that fish stocks were depleting, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, and a Royal Commission was set up in 1860, with a remit ''...to enquire into the Salmon Fisheries of England and Wales, with the view of increasing the supply of a valuable article of food for the benefit of the public...'' While many of its findings were similar to those of the Select Committee, the subsequent legislation sought to address confusion and uncertainty about what the law was. The Salmon Fisheries Act 1861 therefore repealed thirty-three previous Acts of Parliament, and sought to bring all the legislation together in one Act, which also implemented some of the findings of the Royal Commission. The Act was amended in a piecemeal fashion to include most of the rest of the findings through acts passed in 1865, 1873, 1878, 1884 and 1907, by which time most of the legislation applied to all freshwater fish, and not just to salmon and trout. By 1923, the situation was similar to that which had prompted the passing of the 1861 Act, as that Act had been amended by a total of 18 more, and so the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1923 again repealed all previous fishery legislation, and sought to gather it all together in one Act. Local Fishery Boards had first been appointed in 1861, and their powers had been extended by various acts, while boards were also created for rivers that contained freshwater fish, but not game fish such as trout and salmon. Major changes in the administration of fisheries took place, with the passing of the River Boards Act 1948. Of the 53 Fishery Boards that had existed in 1894, only 45 were still functioning by 1948, and the new legislation transferred the responsibility for fisheries to 32 river boards, which were also responsible for land drainage and the prevention of pollution. The Fishery Boards had been funded by fishing licences, but the river boards could also raise funds from precepts on county councils and county borough councils within their area. The 1923 Act has been amended by a number of minor reforms, and in 1961 the Blediscoe Committee met ''"...to review the Salmon and Freshwater Fishery Acts 1923-35 and their operation, taking into account the provisions of the River Boards Act 1948, and to make recommendations..."'' The extensive report that the committee produced contained 150 recommendations, and formed the basis for much of the subsequent legislation. River boards were replaced by river authorities as a result of the Water Resources Act 1963. They inherited the functions of the river boards, with added responsibilities for the conservation of water resources, and a central Water Resources Board was also created. The management of water was restructured again by the

Water Act 1973 The Water Act 1973 (1973 c.37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the water, sewage and river management industry in England and Wales. Water supply and sewage disposal were removed from local authority control, ...

, which replaced river authorities with ten regional water authorities, nine in England and one in Wales. Some of the Blediscoe recommendations were implemented by an Act of 1964, which dealt with the use of seine or draft nets, and by an Act of 1965, which prohibited the use of explosives, poisons or electrical devices and the destroying of dams. Another 30 recommendations were implemented by the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1972.

1975 Act

In common with the Acts of 1861 and 1923, the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 repealed all of the previous legislation, and combined its contents into a single new Act. The legislation repealed included the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Acts of 1923, 1935, 1965 and 1972, and the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Amendment) Act of 1929. It also made minor changes to the Water Resources Act 1963, the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965, the

and the

Control of Pollution Act 1974 Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controlling ...

Law sections 1 – 31 and onwards

Section 1 - Prohibits the taking or killing of salmon or trout, or assisting thereof, by the use of tools such as a firearms, light, otter lath, small boat, jack, wire, spear, gaff or snare, or any pre-designed method of foul-hooking fish or strategies to catch fish with unattended baited hooks, such as cross-line, set-line, lay-line, stroke-haul or snatch. Section 2 - Prohibits the taking of salmon or trout

roe Roe ( ) or hard roe is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooked in ...

(fish eggs) or young fish. It is also an offence to purposely disturb

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: ...

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...

fish, unless permission is obtained previously in writing from the water authority for a private fishery to do so for the purpose of

artificial propagation Plant propagation is the process by which new plants grow from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, and other plant parts. Plant propagation can also refer to the man-made or natural dispersal of seeds. Propagation typically occurs as a step i ...

. Section 3 - Prohibits the taking of salmon or trout using over-sized nets. Nets allowed must give the fish a reasonable chance of escaping. Section 4 - Prohibits the killing of salmon or trout by

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subs ...

poisoning A poison can be any substance that is harmful to the body. It can be swallowed, inhaled, injected or absorbed through the skin. Poisoning is the harmful effect that occurs when too much of that substance has been taken. Poisoning is not to ...

or polluting effluent. Section 5 - Prohibits the killing of salmon or trout by use of explosives. Section 6 - Prohibits the use of a fixed engine in waterways containing salmon or trout. Section 7 - Prohibits the use of or altering of a

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

, in order to obtain strategic advantage in the catching of salmon or trout. Section 8 - Prohibits the use of or altering of a mill dams, in order to obtain strategic advantage in the catching of salmon or trout. Section 9 to 15 - It is the duty of the

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...

owner that when constructing

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

s, screens or sluices to provide and maintain a facilitating fish pass for migrating salmon or trout. These must remain undisturbed and unfished by everyone. Fish passes must be altered by any way the water authority wishes. Section 16 - Prohibits the use of boxes or cribs in weirs and mill dams. Section 17 & 18 - Prohibits the taking of salmon or trout above or below a natural or artificial obstruction. Section 19 & 20 - Prohibits the taking of salmon or trout in a specified closed season. Section 21 - Prohibits the use of eel baskets. Section 22 - Prohibits the sale of salmon or trout between 31 August to 1 February. Section 23 - Prohibits the export of salmon or trout unless previously approved by

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was t ...

. Section 24 - Prohibits consignments of salmon or trout. Section 25 to 29 - Details licences required for the fishing and keeping of salmon or trout. Section 30 - Prohibits the introduction or intended introduction of any fish (or spawn) into an inland water, unless permission and written consent of the Regional water company is obtained beforehand. Section 31 onwards - Details administration and enforcement of this law.

Bibliography

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References

External links

{{UK Water Management United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1975 Animal welfare and rights legislation in the United Kingdom Conservation in the United Kingdom Rural society in the United Kingdom Wildlife of the United Kingdom