Northern Territory Consolidated Acts

FISHERIES ACT - SECT 33

(1) A Fisheries Officer may seize -

(a) any vessel, vehicle or other conveyance, fishing gear, implement, appliance, material, container, goods, or equipment which the officer believes on reasonable grounds is being or has been used or is intended to be used in the commission of an offence against this Act;

(b) any fish or aquatic life which the officer believes on reasonable grounds are being or have been taken, killed, transported, bought, sold, or found in the possession of any person, in contravention of this Act or an instrument of a legislative or administrative character made under it, or any fish or aquatic life with which such fish or aquatic life have been intermixed.

(2) A vessel, vehicle or other conveyance, fish or aquatic life or other article seized pursuant to subsection (1) shall be delivered into the custody of the Director or to a person authorized by the Director in that behalf.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), a vessel, vehicle or other conveyance, fish or aquatic life or other article seized pursuant to subsection (1) may, on application by the person from whom the vessel, vehicle or other conveyance, fish, aquatic life, or article was seized or, if that person is not the owner, by the owner, be released to that person or, as the case may be, owner, under such sureties and conditions, including the entering into of a bond or other financial security to secure the payment of money, as the Director shall specify.

(4) Where, in the opinion of the Director, any fish, aquatic life or other article seized pursuant to subsection (1) may rot, spoil, or otherwise perish, the Director may arrange for the sale of the fish, aquatic life, or other article, or may otherwise dispose of them as the Director thinks fit.

(5) Where the ownership of any vessel, vehicle or other conveyance, fishing gear, implement, appliance, material, container, goods, equipment, fish or aquatic life, cannot, at the time of seizure, be ascertained the property seized shall be forfeit to the Crown and be disposed of as directed by the Director after 90 days from the date of seizure if, within that time, it has not been possible after reasonable enquiry to establish the ownership of the property.

(6) All property seized pursuant to subsection (1) and the proceeds from the sale of property pursuant to subsection (4), except where the property has been released pursuant to subsection (3) or the property or proceeds have been forfeited to the Crown pursuant to subsection (5), shall be held in the custody of the Director or an authorized person until -

(a) a decision is made not to lay any complaint or charge in respect of the alleged offence for which the property was seized; or

(b) where a complaint or charge is laid, upon the completion of proceedings in respect of the alleged offence for which the property was seized, or such sooner time as the court may determine.

(7) The decision whether or not to lay any complaint or charge in respect of an alleged offence for which any property is seized under subsection (1) shall be made no later than 30 days after the day on which the property is seized.

(8) Neither the Director nor the Crown shall be liable to any person for any spoilage or deterioration in the quality of any fish or aquatic life or, subject to reasonable care being taken, any deterioration in any vessel, vehicle or other conveyance or other article seized under subsection (1).

(9) Subject to subsection (8), but notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, where property has been seized under subsection (1) then -

(a) on a decision being made not to lay a complaint or charge; or

(b) on the acquittal of any person charged with an offence,

the property, or the proceeds from the sale of the property, shall forthwith be released from the custody of the Director or authorized person to the person from whom they were seized or to their owner.

(10) A person convicted of an offence against this Act shall be liable to pay to the Crown the reasonable costs of handling, securing, maintaining, and storing property seized under subsection (1) in relation to the offence, which costs may be assessed by the court and collected in like manner to a monetary penalty.

(11) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, but subject to subsection (12), a Fisheries Officer who, at the time of seizure, returns to the water any fish or aquatic life seized pursuant to subsection (1) that the officer believes to be alive, shall not be under any civil or criminal liability to the person from whom the fish or aquatic life was seized in the event of a decision being made not to lay a complaint or charge in respect of the fish or aquatic life, or of the person being acquitted of the charge.

(12) Subsection (11) has effect subject to Part VIIA of the Police Administration Act to the extent it relates to the civil liability of a Fisheries Officer who is a member of the Police Force.