FISH RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ACT 1994 - SECT 97
FISH RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ACT 1994 - SECT 97
97 . Leases, grant of
(1) The Minister may
grant to any person a lease authorising that person, or persons acting on that
person’s behalf, to occupy or use an area of land or waters for the
purposes of aquaculture.
(2) A lease must
specify the species of fish authorised to be kept, bred, hatched or cultured
under the lease.
(3) Subject to the
provisions of this Act, an aquaculture licence in respect of the leased area
vests in the licence holder —
(a) the
exclusive right during the currency of the licence to keep, breed, hatch,
culture and harvest within the leased area the species of fish that are
specified in the lease; and
(b) the
ownership of all fish within the leased area that are kept, bred, hatched,
cultured or harvested under the licence.
(4) A lease may be
—
(a)
granted for an initial term not exceeding 21 years; and
(b)
renewed by the Minister, subject to section 98A, from time to time for any
further period or periods not exceeding 21 years in each case.
(5A) Before granting
or renewing a lease, the Minister must be satisfied of all of the following
—
(a) the
person is a fit and proper person to hold the lease;
(b) it
is in the better interests of the State and the community to grant or renew
the lease;
(c) the
applicant will make, or has made, effective use of the area of land or water
the subject of the lease for aquaculture purposes;
(d) the
activities to be, or that are being, conducted under the lease are unlikely to
adversely affect other fish or the aquatic environment;
(e) any
other matters prescribed for the purposes of this subsection.
(5) A lease may be
granted or renewed subject to such terms, covenants, restrictions and
conditions as the Minister thinks fit including the requirement for payment of
money to the Minister.
(6) Without limiting
subsection (5), a lease may be subject to a condition requiring security to be
given for the observance of any terms, covenants, restrictions or conditions
of the lease.
(7A) Without limiting
subsection (5) or (6), the lease may be subject to a condition requiring
payment of an amount to secure payment of any amount that becomes due under
section 101(2)(b).
(7) A lease may be
varied —
(a) in
the manner provided in the lease; or
(b) by
the Minister in the manner prescribed under section 102(c).
(8) The Minister may
only grant a lease under this section in respect of an area of land and waters
vested in the Minister for that purpose or an area of coastal waters.
(9) If the Minister
grants a lease under this section, the Minister is to cause notice of the
grant to be published in the Gazette .
[Section 97 amended: No. 5 of 1997 s. 52; No. 2 of
2002 s. 6; No. 43 of 2011 s. 35.]