Sea Fish Industry Act 1938

53 Liability of owners of fishing boats for illegal fishing

(1) Where any vessel is used for fishing in any manner constituting a contravention of any byelaw of a local fisheries committee having effect by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section two of the principal Act, as amended by section seven of the [54 & 55 Vict. c. 37.] Fisheries Act, 1891, the skipper and the owner of the vessel shall each be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding, in the case of a first offence, fifty pounds, or in the case of a second offence, one hundred and fifty pounds, or, in the case of a third or subsequent offence, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding three hundred pounds or to both such imprisonment and such fine:

Provided that, in any proceedings which by virtue of this section are taken against the owner of a vessel in respect of an offence under this section committed by the skipper, it shall be a good defence for the owner to prove that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of that offence.

(2) The preceding subsection shall, in relation to any vessel which at the material time is under charter, have effect as if any reference in that subsection to the owner were a reference to the charterer.