CONTROL OF FISH

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20572, 4 June 1941, Page 10

CONTROL OF FISH

LAW’S SERIOUS VIEW LUDICROUS EXAMPLES NO REFERENCE TO ‘CHIPS' The old maxim, “The law does not concern itself with trifles,” certainly does not apply to the Industrial Efficiency Act, at least so far as the Acl affects the catching and sale of fish Recent Gazette notices contain some ludicrous examples of the Act’s devotion to detail. The public is solemnly informed that an applicant seeks r license to take fish for sale “around’ a small coastal settlement, “using long lines, hand lines and crayfish pots.’’ and “any person who considers hr will be materially affected by the decision of the Bureau, of Industry on this application” is invited to make representations accordingly. Another notice relates to a man who wishes to take fish with a variety of gear fom a small dinghy, and yet another concerns a man with a small dinghy who proposes to substitute a 28ft. launch, duly named in the notification.

The retail trade does not escape the Act’s attentions. One applicant seeks a license “to commence to carry on the sale of wet and cooked fish" from certain premises. Another man who conducts a licensed fish shop has had to apply in solemn form for leave to extend his business by hawking fish within a certain area, and a third wishes “to commence to carry on the retail sale of oysters, opened and in shell.” ■ No reference is made in air* of the notices to the manufacture and sale of “chips.” The presumption llierc”ore is that this nationally important industry, by some oversight, is not yet subject to Government license.