PEARL CULTURE (CONTROL) ORDINANCE

PEARL CULTURE (CONTROL) ORDINANCE

LAWS OF HONG KONG

PEARL CULTURE (CONTROL) ORDINANCE

CHAPTER 307


REVISED EDITION 1984

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY THE GOVERN.MENT PRINTER
HONG KONG





CHAPTER 307

PEARL CULTURE (CONTROL) ORDINANCE

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Section

1. Short title ............................. ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
2. Interpretation ......................... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

3. Production in evidence of type specimens of pearl oysters ... ... ... ... ... 2

4. Appointment of officers .................... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3
5. Prescription of cultivation areas .......... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
3

6. Licensing 1 ................................ ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3

7. Director empowered to issue instructions as to cultivation of pearl oysters ... 4

8. Pearl oysters not to be cultivated except under licence . ... ... ... ... 4

9. Protection of oyster beds and rafts..... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

10................Property in pearl oysters ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5
11................Power of search and seizure.. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5

12............Power of arrest ................. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5

13.........Forfeiture ..................... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5
14.........Contiguous areas ............... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6
15.........Regulations .................. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6

16. Amendment ot'Schedule.......... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 7

17,......Saving ........................... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 7

Schedule. Pearl Oysters..................... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 7





CHAPTER 307

PEARL CULTURE (CONTROL)

Toconserve the resources of pearl oYsters in the Colo~~i, and to
regulate the culture qf pearls.

[15 May 1959.1

This Ordinance may be cited as the Pearl Culture (Control)
Ordinance.

2. In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires

'cultivation area' means any area declared under section 5 to be an area
within which live pearl oysters may be kept for the culture of pearls
therein;

'cultivate' in relation to pearl oysters includes any operation for the
purpose of promoting the propagation or growth of such oysters;
(Aniended, 32 of 1960, s. 2)

'culture' in relation to pearl oysters includes any operation directed to
the propagation of pearls in pearl oysters by the process of
inserting foreign bodies into such oysters in order to promote
therein the formation of pearls,

'Director' means the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries;

'licensee' means the holder of a licence issued for the purposes of this
Ordinance by the Director under the hand of a public officer
appointed by him so to do,

'pearl oyster- means any genus or species of oyster specified in the
Schedule; (Replaced, 32 of1960, s. 2)

'process' means the extraction of pearls from pearl oysters and any
subsequent operation. including polishing. leading to the
preparation of the extracted pearl for marketing;

'raft' includes any device or structure used or intended to be used for
the cultivation of pearl oysters;

,'vessel' means any ship, junk, sampan. boat or other description of
craft within the waters of the Colony, but does not include
registered ocean going ships nor any ships or vessels belonging to
Her Majesty or the Government of any foreign power or the
Government of any Commonwealth Country or the Government of
the Republic of Ireland.

3. (1) The Director may keep in his custody in sealed bottles type
specimens of pearl oysters which when produced by the Director or on
his behalf in any court shall be presumed, without further proof, to be
type specimens of such oysters.





(2) Any member of the public shall on application to the Director be
entitled during office hours to examine such type specimens free of
charge.

4. (1) The Governor may appoint in writing any number of public
officer to be

(a) fisheries inspectors and

(b) assistant fisheries inspectors (

(2) Appointments made under this section may be made to give
effect to the purposes of this Ordinance generally or may be limited to
such purposes as may be specified in the appointment.

5. The Director may, from time to time by notification in the
Gazette, declare any area within the waters of the Colony to be an
area within which live pearl oysters may be cultivated for the culture of
pearls.

6. (1) Upon payment of such fees as may be prescribed by
regulations made under section 15, the Director may grant to any
person applying therefor

(a)a temporary licence for a period of 6 months renewable at
the discretion of the Commissioner. for further periods of 6
months each but not exceeding an aggregate period of 2
years; or (Replaced, 32 of 1960, s. 3)

(b)a licence for a period of 5 years renewable for further
periods of 5 years each. (Aniended, 32 of 1960, s.
3)

(2) Every licence granted under this section shall-

(a)specify the cultivation area in respect of which it is granted;
and

(b)be granted subject to any regulations made under section
15; and

(c)be granted subject to any conditions which may be specified
in such licence by the Director.

(3) Any licence granted under this section shall be liable to
cancellation by the Director

(a) upon the breach of any condition thereof.,

(b)if the Director is satisfied that the licensee is for any reason
unable or incompetent to carry out any of the purposes for
which the licence was granted or has failed to discharge any
of his duties under this Ordinance or any regulations made
thereunder; or (Amended, 32 of 1960, s. 3)

(c) if the licensee is convicted of any offence against any of the

provisions of this Ordinance.(Added, 32 of 1960, s.
3)





(4) No licence granted under this section shall be construed as
granting any right to occupy or to use, except for the purpose of
mooring rafts, any land, whether the same be covered by water or not, or
as granting any right to the exclusive use of any waters except in so far
as the purpose aforesaid requires.

(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the
Director may in his discretion, and subject to such conditions or
restrictions as he may think fit, in lieu of granting a licence, grant free of
charge to any person or organization permission in writing to engage
solely in scientific research work relating to the culture of pearls or the
cultivation of pearl oysters; and such permission shall, for the purposes
of this Ordinance, be deemed to be a sufficient licence for the carrying
on of such work and matters necessarily incidental thereto. (Added, 32 of
1960, s. 3)

7. (1) The Director may, from time to time, issue to all or ariv
licensees instructions in writing as to any matter concerning the
cuitivation of pearl oysters or the culture of pearls therein.

(2) In addition to any condition which may under section 6(2)(c) be
specified in any licence granted under that section, it shall be a
condition of every such licence that the licensee shall carry out. or
cause to be carried out. to the satisfaction of the Director, within the
cultivation area in respect of which he is licensed. any instructions
issued to him under this section.

8. (1) Except under and in accordance with a licence granted under
this Ordinance, no person shall, within the waters of the Colony

(a) cultivate any pearl oyster.. or

(b) culture any pearl.

(2) Any person who acts in contravention of any of the provisions
of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a
fine of $20,000 and to imprisonment for 12 months. (Replaced, 32 of 1960
s. 4)

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the
temporary removal, for such period as may be necessary in the
circumstances, of any raft from a cultivation area to a place of safety
owing to stress of weather or to the presence within such area of the
phenomenon commonly known as---redtide' or to the imminence of
either.

9. (1) Any person who-

(a)without the consent of the owner thereof, wilfully moves,
damages or otherwise interferes with any raft; or

(b)having reasonable grounds to believe that damage may result,
wilfully deposits, or causes or suffers to be deposited, either
on land or in the sea. any chemical or other





substance or thing in such a place or in such a manner as to
injure or to be likely to injure any pearl oyster in any
cultivation area or to pollute or to be likely to pollute the
waters in any such area.

shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable to a fine of 520.000 and
to imprisonment for 12 months. (Aniended, 32 of1960, s. 6 and 41 of 1980, s.
50)

(2) No offence under subsection (1) is committed by a person who
makes a discharge or deposit under and in accordance with


(a)a licence granted under section 20 of the Water Pollution
Control Ordinance or

(b) an exemption which arises under section 15 of that Ordin-
ance. (Added 41 of 1980, s. 50)

10. All pearl oysters which are within the boundaries of any
cultivation area. whether collected or not. shall be the absolute property
of the licensee, if any. of such area.

11. Any fisheries inspector or assistant fisheries inspector may
without warrant

(a)board any vessel and search the same and every part thereof,
and

(b)seize, remove and retain any pearl oysters or pearls in respect
of which he finds or has reasonable cause to suspect that an
offence against this Ordinance has been committed, and, in the
case of any such pearl oysters which are alive, may return them
to their natural habitat.

12. (1) It shall be lawful for any fisheries inspector or any assistant
fisheries inspector to apprehend without warrant any person whom he
may reasonably suspect of having contravened any of the provisions of
section 8(1) or of section 9.

(2) If any person forcibly resists an endeavour to arrest him under
this section or attempts to evade such arrest, the person effecting the
arrest may use all reasonable means necessary to effect the arrest.

(3) Every person apprehended under this section shall. as soon as
circumstances permit. be delivered into the custody of a police officer.

13. (1) It shall be lawful for a magistrate to order to be forfeited to
the Crown any pearl oysters or pearls with respect to which an offence
against this Ordinance or any regulations made thereunder has been
committed, whether any person has been convicted of such offence or
not, and upon the making of such order for forfeiture all such pearl
oysters or pearls, as the case may be, shall become the property of the
Crown free from all rights of any other person.





(2) Before making any such order, the magistrate shall give to
any person claiming or appearing to the magistrate to be the owner
of such pearl oysters or pearls an opportunity of being heard, and if
such person satisfies the magistrate that-

(a) he is the owner of the pearl oysters or pearls; and

(b) he was not implicated in the commission of such offence,

the magistrate shall order that such pearl oysters or pearls be
delivered to such person.

(3) It shall be lawful for the Governor in his absolute discre-
tion to give effect to any claim for relief from such forfeiture where
such claim is established to his satisfaction on equitable, moral or
other grounds.

14. Where 2 or more cultivation areas held by different
licensees are contiguous to each other, and any proceeding is taken
against any person for stealing pearl oysters from any such area, it
shall be sufficient in alleging and proving the property and lawful
possession, in such oysters, and the place from which they were
stolen, to allege and prove that they were the property of and in the
lawful possession of one or other of such licensees and were stolen
from one or other of such contiguous areas.

15. (1) The Governor in Council may by regulation prescribe
or provide for-

(a)all matters which by this Ordinance are required or per-
mitted to be prescribed;

(b)the manner in which application for licences shall be made.
and the forms to be used in connexion therewith;

(e) the fees to be paid for licences;

(d)the payment of royalties to the Government, the method of
calculation of the amount of such royalties and the manner
and time of payment;

(e)the manner in which the boundaries of cultivation areas
shall be marked;

(f) the duties of licensees;

(g)the making, construction and marking of rafts and the
manner of anchoring them;

(h)inspection of rafts and cultivation area and any kind of
oysters found there;

(i)the conservation of pearl oysters or the spawn thereof in
the waters of the Colony and the promotion of economical
methods of collection and cultivation of such oysters and
the culture of pearls;(Aniended, 32 of 1960, s. 7)





(j)the size, types or numbers of pearl oysters which may be
collected or harvested or in which pearls may be cultured.,
(Amended, 32 of 1960, s. 7)

(k)returns and reports to be rendered and accounts. registers,
books, records and plans to be kept by licensees, and the
manner of rendering or keeping them;

(1)the disposal of any noxious or waste matter resulting from the
collecting or harvesting of pearl oysters or the processing of
pearls; and

(m)the safety, welfare, health and working conditions of divers.

(2) Regulations made under this section may provide that any
contravention of any such regulations shall be an offence and may
prescribe penalties therefor not exceeding a fine of $10,000 and to
imprisonment for 6 months and in the case of a continuing offence a
further daily penalty of a fine not exceeding S50 (Amended, 32 of 1960,
s. 7)

16. The Governor in Council may by order published in the Gazette
amend or cancel the Schedule.

(A Added, 32 of 1960, s. 8)

17. Except as provided in the proviso to regulation 7 of the
Merchant Shipping (Minor Fisheries) Regulations, nothing in this
Ordinance shall be construed to the prejudice of any of the provisions
of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance.

SCHEDULE [s. 2.1

PEARL OYSTERS

All species of the genus Pteria.

All species of the genus Pinctada.

(Added, 32 qf 1960, s. 9)
Originally 26 of 1958. 14 of 1959. 32 of 1960. 41 of 1980. G.N.A. 30/59. Short title. Interpretation. Schedule. Production in evidence of type speciments of pearl oysters. Appointment of officers. Prescription of cultivation areas. Licensing. Director empowered to issue instructions as to cultivation of pearl oysters. Pearl oysters not to be cultivated except under licence. Protection of oyster beds and rafts. (Cap. 358.) Property in pearl oysters. Power of search and seizure. Power of arrest. Forfeiture. Contiguous areas. Regulations. Amendment of Schedule. Saving. (G.N.A. 112/53.) (Cap. 281.)

Originally 26 of 1958. 14 of 1959. 32 of 1960. 41 of 1980. G.N.A. 30/59. Short title. Interpretation. Schedule. Production in evidence of type speciments of pearl oysters. Appointment of officers. Prescription of cultivation areas. Licensing. Director empowered to issue instructions as to cultivation of pearl oysters. Pearl oysters not to be cultivated except under licence. Protection of oyster beds and rafts. (Cap. 358.) Property in pearl oysters. Power of search and seizure. Power of arrest. Forfeiture. Contiguous areas. Regulations. Amendment of Schedule. Saving. (G.N.A. 112/53.) (Cap. 281.)

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