FISHING LICENCES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22349, 21 February 1936, Page 14

FISHING LICENCES

CASE AS WARNING INTENTION NOT SUFFICIENT DEPARTMENT'S ATTITUDE [j)T TELKORAPH —OWN CORHESPOJTOKNT] ROTORUA. Thursday When the case of Harry Hamish Pattle, of Pukekohe, was again called in the Potorua Magistrate's Court this morning Mr. S. L. Paterson, S.M., entered a conviction with a fine of £2 and costs for trout-fishing at the mouth of the Ngongotalia stream on January 1 without first procuring a licence. The information, which was laid by the conservator of fish and game, Mr. A. Kcan first came before the Court two weeks ago, when it was stated that defendant had been accosted by a ranger, Mr. Christophers, and had admitted that'he had been fishing without a licence. In a letter handed to the magistrate Pattle had stated that immediately he had arrived at Ngongotaha he had been pressed by some friends to go fishing and he did so, intending to take out a licence afterward. At the original hearing Mr. Kean pointed out that to get to the mouth of the Ngongotaha stream, where ho had fished, defendant had to pass two stores, where licences could be obtained. The intention of the prosecution was not to claim that Pattle intended to avoid securing a licence, but to act as a warning that licences must be obtained before fishing was attempted. After considering the case for the department and defendant's written explanation the magistrate adjourned the matter for two weeks in order that the position could be referred to the UnderSecretary of Internal Affairs.

Mr. Kean to-day produced a letter from the Under-Secretary, which indicated that the department desired the case to proceed. The full facts had been placed before the Minister of Internal Affairs, who had also approved of proceedings being taken. It was pointed out by the Under-Secretary that an angler was required to produce a licence on demand, and th 4 only way to protect the revenue was to take the definite stand that a person who fished must produce a licence The department was not prepared, for obvious reasons, to admit a principle that a person fishing without a licence could escape prosecution if after he had been detected by a ranger a licence was taken out.