Fisheries Administration and Lagislation

Unit 5 - Marine fisheries legislations

5.1. Overview
The following four major legal instruments of the Central government, described below, directly govern fisheries activities:
• The Indian Fisheries Act, 1897
• The Maritime Zones of India (Regulation of fishing by foreign vessels Act, 1981 (No. 42 of 1981)
• The Maritime Zones of India (Regulation of fishing by foreign vessels) Rules, 1982
• The Operation of Deep Sea Fishing Vessels, 20m OAL and above, Notifications dated 14 December 2006
• Merchants shipping act (one Para)
35A. Application of Part-- Save as otherwise provided, this Part applies to every Indian fishing boat.
435B. Definition-- For the purposes of this Part, “Indian fishing boat” means--
(a) Ever fishing vessel, as defined in clause (12) of section 3;
(b) Every sailing vessel, whether or not fitted with mechanical means of propulsion, solely engaged in fishing for profit;
(c) Every boat or craft of any other type used solely for fishing which the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify to be a fishing boat for the purposes of this section,
which is owned wholly by persons to each of whom any of the descriptions specified in clause (a) or in clause (b) or in clause (c), as the case may be, of section 21 applies or which satisfies such other requirements as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.
435C. Obligation to register-- Every Indian fishing boat shall be registered under this Part.
Provided that any Indian fishing boat registered at the commencement of this Part under Part V or Part XV of this Act or any other law for the time being in force in India shall be deemed to have been registered under this Part.
Provided further that every Indian fishing boat so deemed to have been registered shall be re-registered under this Part within such period from the commencement of this Part as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.
Provided also that registration of non-mechanised sailing vessels will commence in different parts on such dates as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.
435D. Port of registry-- (1) The ports at which registration of Indian fishing boats shall be made shall be such ports or places in India as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be ports or places of registry under this Part.
(2) The port or place at which an Indian fishing boat is registered for the time being under this Part, shall be deemed to be her port or place of registry and the port or place to which she belongs.
435E. Registrars of Indian fishing boats-- The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint an officer to be registrar of Indian fishing boats (hereafter in this Part referred to as registrar) at every port or place declared as a port or place of registry under sub-section (1) of section 435D.
435F. Application for registry-- An application for the registry of an Indian fishing boat shall be made-
(a) In the case of an individual, by the person requiring to be registered as owner or by his agent;
(b) In the case of more than one individual requiring to be so registered, by one or more of the persons so requiring or by his or their agent or agents, as the case may be; and
(c) In the case of a company or a co-operative society requiring to be so registered, by its agents; and the authority of the agent shall be testified in writing, if appointed by an individual under the hand of the person appointing him and, if appointed by a company or a co-operative society under its common seal.
435G. Certificate of registry-- (1) The owner of every Indian fishing boat required to be registered under this Part shall make an application in the prescribed form to the registrar for the grant to him of a certificate of registry in respect of the fishing boat.
(2) The owner of every Indian fishing boat in respect of which an application under sub-section (1) is made, shall cause the tonnage of the fishing boat to be ascertained in the prescribed manner.
(3) The registrar may make such inquiry as he thinks fit with respect to the particulars contained in such application shall enter in a register to be kept for the purpose (hereinafter referred to as fishing boats register) the following paritcualrs in respect of the Indian fishing boat, namely:--
(a) The name of fishing boat, the place where she was built and the port to which she belongs;
(b) The rig, type and tonnage of the fishing boat;
(c) The number assigned to the fishing boat;
(d) The name, occupation and residence of the owner of the fishing boat;
(e) The mortgages, if any, effected by the owner in respect of the fishing boat; and
(f) Such other particulars as may be prescribed.
(4) After the particulars in respect of the Indian fishing boat have been entered in the fishing boats register under sub-section (3), the registrar shall grant to the applicant a certificate of registry in the prescribed form.
(5) The owner of every Indian fishing boat shall pay for each certificate of registry a fee according to such scale as may be prescribed by the Central Government having regard to the tonnage of the fishing boat, but in no case exceeding one rupee per ton of its gross tonnage.
(6) An Indian fishing boat required to be registered under this Part but not so registered may be detained by a proper officer until the owner, skipper, tindal or other person in charge of the fishing boat produces a certificate of registry in respect of the fishing boat.
435H. Particulars relating to Indian fishing boats to be painted-- The owner of every Indian fishing boat so registered shall, before comissioning the fishing boat into service, paint or cause to be painted permanently in the prescribed manner on some conspicuous part of the fishing boat, the name by which the fishing boat has been registered, the number assigned to the fishing boat by the registrar and the port or place to which she belongs, and shall take all steps to ensure that the fishing boats remains painted as required by this section.
435I. Change of name of Indian fishing boat-- A change shall not be made in the name of an Indian fishing boat registered under this Part except in accordance with rules made in this behalf.
435J. Special provision for Indian fishing boats-- Every Indian fishing boat registered under this Part shall carry on board such life saving appliances and fire appliances as are prescribed by rules made under section 288, 289 and 457 or under any other provision of this Act, subject to such exemptions as may be specially granted in respect of such fishing boat.
435K. Certificate of inspection-- (1) No Indian fishing boat shall ply or proceed to sea unless there is in force in respect of that fishing boat a certificate of inspection granted under this Part.
(2) A certificate of inspection in respect of an Indian fishing boat shall specify--
(a) the name and tonnage of the fishing boat;
(b) the name of skipper, tindal or other person in charge of the fishing boat;
(c) the maximum number of members of crew the fishing boat is certified to carry;
(d) the safety equipments and appliances the fishing boat is required to carry on board;
(e) such other matters as the Central Government may think fit to specify.
and shall contain a statement to the effect that her hull, rigging, equiipment and machinery where fitted are in good condition.
(3) Every certificate of inspection shall be in force from the date of issue for a period of one year or for such shorter period as may be specified therein.
Provided that when an Indian fishing boat is at sea at the time of expiry of the certificate, the certificate shall continue to be valid until her first arrival at a port or place in India.
435L. Cancellation, re-issue etc. Of certificate of inspection-- (1) Where at any time subsequent to the issue of a certificate of inspection in respect of an Indian fishing boat, the registrar has reason to believe that the fishing boat is not fit to proceed to sea, he may, after giving the owner an opportunity of making a representation, cancel such certificate.
(2) Where at any time subsequent to the issue of a certificate of inspection an Indian fishing boat has undergone material alteration or has met with accident or, where the certificate of inspection has been cancelled under sub-section (1) and the application is made for the re-issue of such certificate or for the grant of a fresh certificate, the registrar may, before re-issuing the certificate or issuing a fresh certificate, as the case may be, cause such fishing boat to be inspected; and if the authority inspecting the fishing boat reports that she is not fit to proceed to sea or that her hull, rigging or equipment are defective, such certificate shall not be reissued or issued until the fishing boat is, in the opinion of such authority, fit to proceed to sea or the defect is rectified to the satisfaction of that authority.
435M. Inspection of safety equipments and appliances-- (1) Any surveyor appointed under section 9, any registrar appointed under section 435E or any other officer appointed by the Central Government in this behalf by notification in the Official Gazette may at any reasonable time inspect any Indian fishing boat for the purpose of seeing that she is properly provided with safety equipments and appliances in conformity with the rules referred to in section 435J.
(2) If the sruveyor, or, as the case may be, the registrar or other officer appointed under sub-section (1) finds that the Indian fishing boat is not provided with the aforesaid equipments and appliances, he shall give to the owner, skipper or tindal or any other peson in charge of the fishing boat a notice in writing pointing out the deficiency and also what in his opinion is requisite to remedy the said deficiency.
(3) No Indian fishing boat served with a notice under sub-section (2) shall proceed to sea until it obtains a certificate signed by the surveyor, registrar or other officer appointed under sub-section (1) to the effect that it is properly provided with safety equipments and appliances in conformity with the aforesaid rules.
435N. Registration of alteration-- When an Indian fishing boat is so altered as not to correspond with the particulars relating to her entered in the certificate of registry, the owner of such fishing boat shall make a report of such alterations to the registrar of the port or place where the fishing boat is registered, and the registrar shall either cause the alterations to be registered, or direct that the fishing boat may be registered anew, in accordance with such rules as may be made in this behalf.

The need for a more robust and forward-looking law has been addressed most recently by the development of the Draft Maritime Zones of India (Regulation of Fishing and Fisheries) Act. A draft note to Cabinet was prepared and circulated to 26 agencies for comment, but at the time of writing no further progress has apparently been made and the draft was not available for review.
The Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and other Maritime Zones Act, 1976 of India, recognizes the sovereign rights over conservation and management of living resources in the Indian exclusive economic zone, as well as their exploration and exploitation. It empowers the central government to make rules for conservation and management of the living resources of the exclusive economic zone, and the protection of the marine environment.
The fisheries legislation that followed this Act, the Maritime Zones of India (Regulation of Fishing by Foreign Vessels) Act, 1981 and the Maritime Zones of India (Regulation of Fishing by Foreign Vessels) Rules, 1982. Neither instrument includes any reference to conservation or management. This is not to say that the potential of the conditions to the license and permit cannot be creatively used. The entire mandate as well as the rationale of the above Act and Rules was a response to increased poaching activities by foreign fishing vessels and thus to regulate fishing. The conditions that may be attached to such license or to the permit can be used to promote sustainable fisheries management as per global standards and trends. The need is to lay out these frameworks so that principles can be integrated into the license or permit regime. Globally fisheries laws are increasingly including in their terms the objectives and principles that have been agreed and are evolving – they provide an important guide for the conditions of license, management decisions, etc.
Two recent Notices relating to Deep-Sea Fishing allow operation of Deep Sea Fishing Vessels (20 meters OAL and above) under joint venture. The Inter Ministerial Empowered Committee on Marine Fisheries (EC) is to consider proposals “on merit and vessel wise”, but again there is no reference to management of the resource.
The only Indian legislation which refers to “undertaking measures for the conservation and management of offshore and deep-sea fisheries” is the Marine Products Export Development Authority Act, 1972, but no management measures appear to exist under this Act.
There is still an absence of a legal regime to manage fisheries operated by Indian nationals using vessels of Indian origin in the EEZ. Another serious gap includes the absence of legislation on gear selectivity to address the negative impact of bottom trawling on fisheries resources and fish habitats. Although, the State Marine Fishing Regulations do prescribe the methods of fishing, the areas as well as the as kind of gears that are essential, automatic extension to EEZ areas may not be clearly linked. In practice, because the vessels originate from state ports and landing places, the state regulations apply to them regardless of where they are fishing. This ambiguity in state and central roles and responsibilities should be examined and rectified in any subsequent legislation .These and other areas are addressed in the concept note for integrated fisheries legislation in Annex 7.