Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (Amendment) Act 2017

Official English translation. The Sinhala text prevails. Open the official Sinhala text, official PDF on documents.gov.lk

Official translationFrom Department of Government Printing, unchanged

s 1Short title

This Act may be cited as the Fisheries and Aquatic

Resources (Amendment) Act, No. 11 of 2017.

s 2Insertion of new section 28A in the principal enactment

The following new section is hereby inserted immediately after section 28 of the Fisheries and Aquatic

Resources Act, No. 2 of 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the

“principal enactment”) and shall have effect as section 28A of that enactment:—

28A. (1) (a) No person shall engage in or cause any other person to be engaged in fishing operations utilizing bottom trawl nets, including nets with or without two wings or using vertical poles at the two free ends of the net, to be towed by motorized or mechanized fishing boats.

(b)

No person shall use, possess, import, transport, purchase or sell any bottom trawl net, to be towed by a motorized or mechanized fishing boat for the purpose of carrying out fishing operations in Sri Lanka Waters.

(2)

No license shall be issued by the

Director-General under Part II of this Act for fishing operations carried out by bottom trawl nets to be towed by a motorized or mechanized fishing boat in Sri Lanka Waters.

“Prohibition of fishing operations utilizing bottom trawl nets.

(3)

Any license, issued under this Act for fishing operations carried out utilizing bottom trawl nets towed by motorized or mechanized fishing boats in Sri Lanka Waters, shall not be renewed:

Provided that, a license already issued for the use of bottom trawl nets and which is still in force on the day preceding the date of commencement of this Act, shall notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act, continue to be valid for the purpose and in respect of which the license has been issued, for the period specified therein.”.

s 3Amendment of section 49 of the principal enactment

Section 49 of the principal enactment is hereby amended by the insertion immediately after subsection (2A)

thereof, of the following new subsection:—

“(2AA) Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with the provisions of section 28A of this

Act shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction after summary trial before a Magistrate, be liable to an imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not less than fifty thousand rupees.”.

s 4Amendment of section 66 of the principal enactment

Section 66 of the principal enactment is hereby amended by the insertion, immediately after the definition of the expression “Sri Lanka Waters”, of the following new definition:—

“ “bottom trawl net” means a towing net having a cone shaped body and a bag or cod end

(madiya) connected to the apex with or without two wings connected to the other end and towed by motorized or mechanized fishing boats.”.

s 5Section 28A of this Act to prevail over other written law

The provisions of section 28A of this Act, shall have effect notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other written law, and accordingly, in the event of any conflict or inconsistency between the provisions of section 28A of this

Act and such other law, the provisions of section 28A of this

Act shall prevail.

s 6Sinhala text to prevail in case of inconsistency

In the event of any inconsistency between the Sinhala and Tamil texts of this Act, the Sinhala text shall prevail.