XI, D, 4 Seale: Shells of Mindanao and Svlu 259 



LAW PROTECTING MARINE MOLLUSA ^ 



Third Philippine Legislature,^ f C. B. 



Fourth Session. J t No. 379. 



[No. 2604.] 



AN ACT FOR THE PROTECTION OF MARINE MOLLUSCA. 



By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine 

 Legislature, that: 



Section 1. Marine Mollusca, or the shells of such, may be taken without 

 restriction from any open bed, bank, shell field, or other breeding place for 

 shellfish in Philippine waters by any person operating without the use 

 of boat, submarine dredge, rake, or submarine armor. Likewise marine 

 Mollusca whose shells have a value of less than twenty-five pesos per ton 

 may be taken from any open bed, bank, or place by means of any device 

 whatever. The taking of marine Mollusca in Philippine waters under other 

 conditions may be lawfully conducted only under license or permit issued 

 in conformity with the provisions of this Act and subject to restriction and 

 regulation as hereinafter provided. 



Sec. 2. Licenses for taking marine Mollusca, or the shells of such, shall 

 be issued and the license fees collected by the Collector of Internal Revenue 

 or his deputies to run for the remainder of the calendar year following the 

 date of issuance. Fees derived therefrom shall accrue to the provincial 

 treasury of the province where the same are collected. During the vitality 

 of such license, the holder may take marine Mollusca anywhere in Philippine 

 waters. 



Sec. 3. A license, to be known as the pearling-boat license, may upon 

 pasmient of the proper fee be issued to any vessel whose registration or 

 ownership is such as is prescribed for vessels engaging in the Philippine 

 coastvdse trade. 



A pearling-boat license shall not be issued to any vessel owned or operated 

 in whole or in part by a person who has been twice convicted of violating 

 provisions of this Act. 



Sec. 4. The Secretary of the Interior shall from time to time prescribe 

 the fee to be paid for the pearling-boat license, or a scale of fees graduated 

 according to the character or capacity of the vessels to be licensed, and shall 

 announce the same in an order which shall be published at least sixty days 

 before becoming effective. Such fee shall in no case be in excess of four 

 hundred pesos per annum, and may be paid quarterly in advance, in the 

 manner prescribed for, and subject to the same penalties for delinquency 

 as fixed internal revenue taxes under Act Numbered Twenty- three hundred 

 and thirty-nine. 



Sec. 5. A license, to be known as the first-class shell-diver's license, 

 authorizing the holder to use submarine armor in taking marine Mollusca 

 in Philippine waters, may be issued by the Collector of Internal Revenue or 

 his deputies to any person upon the payment of the required fee. 



A first-class shell-diver's license shall not be issued to any person who 

 has been twice convicted of violating provisions of this Act. 



' Official Gazette. Manila (1916), 14, 440. This Act as printed contains 

 minor typographical errors, which have been corrected in this reprint. 



