246 THE FISHER Y LA WS. 



trary to the provisions of the Act may be searched for, 

 seized, and condemned. 



Under the Sea Fisheries Act of 1868, and certain Irish 

 Acts of which the principal one was passed in 1 866, 1 the 

 Board of Trade in Great Britain, subject to confirmation by 

 Parliament, and the Inspectors of Irish Fisheries with the 

 approval of the Lord Lieutenant in Ireland, 2 have power to 

 grant exclusive rights of oyster and mussel fishery, which 

 may be revoked if the grantees do not cultivate their 

 allotted ground properly. Power to regulate a fishery and 

 take tolls from persons fishing in it for oysters and mussels 

 may also be given by an order of the Board of Trade. 3 

 That authority issued regulations in July, 1872, setting 

 forth the principles and conditions on which either exclusive 

 rights of fishery or regulative powers over fisheries would be 

 granted, and the procedure to be observed in applications 

 and inquiries. Hardly so much use has been made of these 

 provisions as was expected ; but it is hoped that they will 

 in course of time produce appreciable results in increasing 

 and cheapening the supply of oysters, though they may not 

 avail to bring back the golden age of our fathers, when 

 natives were a shilling a dozen. Under a recent Act 4 the 

 Board of Trade may, for the protection of clam and bait 

 beds, prescribe or authorise restrictions on the use of beam 

 trawls for limited times, and within an area defined in each 

 case by the order, anywhere in the territorial waters of 

 Great Britain. The power can be exercised only on the 



1 Oyster Fishery (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1866, 29 & 30 Viet. 



.97. 



2 32 & 33 Viet. c. 92, s. 14. The wording of the English and Irish 

 Acts is different, but their general effect is much the same. 



8 There does not seem to be anything corresponding to this in 

 Ireland. * 44 Viet. c. 11. 



