1382
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 41

And whereas it is expedient to make the regulations herein-after set forth with respect to oysters, fish, and seals inhabiting the waters of the colony herein mentioned:

Now, therefore, His Excellency the Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, in pursuance and exercise of the powers conferred upon him by the said Act, and by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the said colony, doth hereby make the following regulations; and, with the like advice and consent, doth order that these regulations shall take effect on and after the first day of September, one thousand nine hundred and six; and doth hereby further order that from and after the date last aforesaid the several regulations set forth in the First Schedule hereto, and all regulations made under the said Act or the Acts thereby repealed, shall be and the same are hereby revoked.

REGULATIONS.
General (Section I).

1. In these regulations, if not inconsistent with the context, “the said Act” means “The Sea-fisheries Act, 1894.”
   “Fish,” “tidal waters,” and “tidal lands,” and generally all words and expressions herein used which are defined in or by the said Act, shall have the like meaning and interpretation for the purposes of these regulations as they have in or by the said Act.

2. These regulations shall have force and effect in the Colony of New Zealand, and in all salt, fresh, or brackish waters in the said colony, and on all shores of such waters, and any part thereof, or that may be contiguous or adjacent to such waters. But nothing herein shall interfere with the application of any of these regulations to particular parts of the said colony.

3. The months of November, December, January, February, March, and April in each year are hereby prescribed as a close season for oysters in the North Island and islands adjacent thereto. During such close season it shall be unlawful for any person to take oysters.

4. The months of October, November, December, and January in each year are hereby prescribed as a close season for oysters in the South Island and Stewart Island, and islands adjacent thereto. During such close season it shall be unlawful for any person to take oysters.

5. No person shall take or burn live oysters for the purpose of converting the shells into lime.

6. No spade or other apparatus for taking rock-oysters shall be used of which the edge or blade shall exceed 2 in. in width.

7. Every person engaged in taking oysters in the North Island and islands adjacent thereto shall first obtain a license from a Collector of Customs, which license shall be in the form set out in the Second Schedule hereto, and shall expire on the 31st day of October in each year. The fee to be paid for such license shall be £1 10s.

8. No person shall take or dredge for oysters between sunset and sunrise (except an owner on his own private oyster-bed).

9. The period from the 1st September, 1906, to the 30th June, 1907, is hereby prescribed a close season for seals.

10. No person shall take, buy, sell, expose for sale, or have in possession any fish of any of the species enumerated in this regulation of a less weight or size than that set opposite the name of such fish:—

• Measured from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail.

11. The mesh of every net or seine used for the purpose of taking fish in tidal waters shall measure, when prepared for use, not less than 2¼ in., unless such net is a bona fide flounder set-net, mullet-net, garfish-net, or herring-net, and used for taking flounders, mullet, garfish, or herrings only.

12. The mesh of every set-net used for taking flounders in all waters in the colony shall measure, when prepared for use, not less than 4 in.

13. The mesh of every net used for taking mullet in tidal waters in the North Island of the colony shall measure, when prepared for use, not less than 3¼ in.

14. The mesh of every garfish-net shall measure, when prepared for use, not less than 1 in.

15. The mesh of every herring-net shall measure, when prepared for use, not less than 1¼ in.

16. The size of mesh, in every case, shall be ascertained by measuring the length between knot and knot of opposite corners, with the mesh closed, the net being first wetted and stretched, and being tanned, barked, or otherwise prepared for use. In case of dispute or doubt, a ½ lb. weight shall be slung or attached to one knot of the mesh, in order to produce a fair strain or extension, and the space between the top and bottom knot shall be measured forthwith while the mesh remains extended. If the net to be measured is dry, the part to be measured shall be soaked either in fresh or salt water for not less than ten minutes, and the mesh so soaked shall then be measured.

17. The foregoing regulations in regard to the size of the mesh of nets shall not apply to Lake Ellesmere, in the Provincial District of Canterbury, but the mesh of every net used for taking fish in such lake shall measure, when prepared for use, not less than 4 in.: Provided that it shall be lawful to use in the said lake herring-nets the mesh of which shall measure, when prepared for use, not less than 1½ in.

18. No person shall trawl or use a trawl-net for the purpose of taking fish in that portion of the Hauraki Gulf which is bounded as follows, viz.: Commencing at a point on a line drawn from Cape Colville to Rodney Point, and distant three nautical miles from high-water mark at Cape Colville; proceeding thence generally in a southerly direction at a distance of three nautical miles from high-water mark on the eastern shore-line of Hauraki Gulf till intersected by a straight line extending from the northern entrance of Cabbage Bay to Shearer Rock; thence in a westerly direction in a straight line to Shearer Rock; thence in a northerly direction to Flat Rock; thence in a northerly direction on a continuation of the last-mentioned line till intersected by the before-mentioned line drawn from Cape Colville to Rodney Point; thence in a north-westerly direction to Rodney Point; thence generally southerly, easterly, and northerly along the high-water mark of the shore-line of the waters of the Hauraki Gulf to Cape Colville; thence in a straight line to the commencing-point: as the said area is delineated on the plan marked M.D. 2522, deposited in the office of the Marine Department, at Wellington, in the Provincial District of Wellington, and thereon coloured red.

19. The mesh of every trawl-net shall measure, when prepared for use, wetted, and stretched, not less than the following dimensions — viz., in wings and belly and batings down to 100 meshes, 4¼ in.; in the square, 4½ in.; and in the cod end, 4 in. The part of a trawl-net known as the cod end shall not begin higher up the net than to the bottom of the 100 meshes above mentioned.

20. The size of mesh of trawl-net shall be ascertained by measuring the length between knot and knot of opposite corners, with the mesh closed, the net being first wetted and stretched, and being tanned, tarred, or otherwise prepared for use. In case of dispute or doubt, a 1 lb. weight shall be slung or attached to one knot of a mesh, in order to produce a fair strain or extension, and the space between the top and bottom knots shall be measured forthwith while the mesh remains extended. If the net to be measured is dry, the part to be measured shall be soaked either in fresh or salt water for not less than ten minutes, and the mesh so soaked shall then be measured.

21. Any fishery officer may, at any reasonable time, examine and measure any net used, or which he has reason to believe is intended to be used, for fishing purposes.

22. Every person shall be liable to a penalty of not less than £1 or more than £20 who uses for fishing purposes, or has in his possession for such use, any net the mesh of which is of less size than is hereinbefore prescribed, or who, being in possession of any trawl-net, refuses to allow any fishery officer to measure the same, or in any way prevents or obstructs him in so doing.

23. No person shall set any net by the process known as “stalling,” whereby a net is staked or set across or within any bay, inlet, river, or creek in tidal waters in such a manner that fish enclosed by such net are or may be left stranded at low tide.

24. When a person is lawfully engaged in setting or placing his nets for the purpose of taking indigenous fish, no person shall impede him by the process known as “blocking,” whereby another person sets or places his nets outside, or round, or