State of Manipur - Act
Manipur Fishery Rules, 1979
MANIPUR
India
India
Manipur Fishery Rules, 1979
Rule MANIPUR-FISHERY-RULES-1979 of 1979
- Published on 17 March 1981
- Commenced on 17 March 1981
- [This is the version of this document from 17 March 1981.]
- [Note: The original publication document is not available and this content could not be verified.]
Part I – General Conditions of Tenure, ETC.
1. Short title and commencement.
- (i) These rules may be called the Manipur Fishery Rules,1979.2. Definitions.
- In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,-3.
[* * *]4. The Director of Fisheries to declare collection of waters to be fisheries.
- The Director of Fisheries, with the previous sanction of the Governor, may, by proclamation published in the Manipur Gazette, declare any collection of water, running or still to be Government fisheries; and no right in any fishery so declared shall be deemed to have been acquired by the public or any person either before or after except as provided in these rules :Provided that nothing in this rule shall affect any express grant of right to fish made by or on behalf of the Government or any fisheries rights acquired by a proprietor of such rights in any fishery farming after the commencement of these rules in this land.5. Fish in Government Fisheries to belong to Government.
- Fish in the Government Fisheries in Manipur belong to the Fisheries Department of the Government of Manipur.6. Lessees will have sole right in the Fishery.
- Fisheries lessees will have the sole fishing right only within the recorded boundaries of the fishery concerned.7. Prohibition of catching fish in channels, etc. connected with Government Fisheries.
- In cases where channels (including loukhong, khongs etc.) flow into or out of any Government fishery during the period when they are connected by water and fish come and go between them, water may be taken by the cultivators from the channels and the lessee may fix some device at the mouth of the channel to prevent escape of fish from the fishery without preventing the flow of water with the prior permission from the Director of Fisheries. During the period when the channels and fisheries are not connected owing to the drying up of the water any fish left behind in the channel becomes the property of the owner of the channel to be declared by the Director of Fisheries. Neither the fishery lessee nor the land holder shall do anything to expedite, bring about, retard or prevent the connection of a fishery with the channel except with the prior permission of the Director of Fisheries.8. Prohibition of catching fish in paddy fields connected with Government Fishery.
- No one shall catch fish in paddy fields when they are connected with the water of a fishery.9. Lessee to report encroachment.
- It shall be the duty of the lessee to report to the Director of Fisheries all cases of encroachment in the fishing failing which the lease may be terminated under Rule 35. Encroachers in Government fisheries shall be evicted by District Fishery Officer or any other officer authorised by the Director as if they are encroachers on Government land and shall also be liable to fine as prescribed in Schedule "A" of these rules. Appeals against such order shall lie to such authority and in such manner as laid down in Rule. 45.10. Prohibition of major improvement, etc. in Government Fishery.
- Any major improvement or change of natural feature or boundaries of Government fisheries shall not be carried out without the permission of the Director. Land within the boundaries of the fishery shall not be used for cultivation or homestead or any other purpose except as fishery without specific approval of the Government.11. Shifting of acquatic vegetation prohibited.
- Shifting of aquatic vegetation after the 15th of June every year from one Fishery to another is prohibited.12. Government servant not to bid Government fishery.
- No Government servant may bid for purchase, finance or held shares in any Government fishery.13. Lessee to remove fishing instruments, etc.
- The lessee of the fishery for the preceding year shall remove all his fishing instruments and fishing huts within the first week of April of the following year but shall not catch fish during this period. In case of sales other than the annual sale, the lessee of the preceding year shall not remove the "Soil" but removal of the fishing hut and other fishing instruments is allowed within a week from the date of sale.14. Transfer of fishery lease prohibited.
- No transfer or mortgage of a fishery lease for a share therein shall be made except with the sanction in writing of the Director but the lessee shall the right to issue licences to his fishermen.15. Lessee not entitled to remission or extension of lease.
- Fishery lessee shall have not been entitled to remission or extension of the lease because of flood, drought, want of fish or any accident.Part II – Lease of Fisheries
16. Leasing system described.
- For the purpose of these rules the leasing systems may be considered under the following categories :17. Fishing without lease prohibited.
- All fishing without lease previously obtained from the Director or such other officer as he may appoint for the purpose, is prohibited. Any person fishing in any Government fishery must carry his lease or permit/licence and produce it when called upon to do so by any officer duly authorised.18. Use of Mahajai, etc. in Government fisheries prohibited.
- The use of Mahajal or any similar large nets with meshes smaller than 7 cm. square in the Government fisheries is prohibited :Provided that the Director may prescribe conditions on which the restriction may be relaxed.19. Prohibition of poison, etc. in fisheries water.
- The use of poison, lime, dynamites or other noxious or explosive substances with intent thereby to catch or kill fishes in any water is strictly prohibited.20. Lessees of bheel to clear water hyacinth.
- The lessees of bheel fisheries shall keep the bheel cleared of water hyacinth.21. The Director to prescribe fishing nets and lay down conditions of fishing.
- Subject to Rules 15 to 20 the Director shall have the power to prescribe the mesh of fishing nets, the fixed engines or other instruments which can be used, the manner in which the fishing operations shall be carried on and to lay down any other conditions which may be considered necessary from time to time. Such conditions shall be proclaimed before the sale of the fishery begins.22. Declaration of Government water area as fish sanctuary and prohibition of fishing in fish sanctuary.
- The Director with the prior approval of the Government may declare any specified Government water area as fish sanctuary for protection of fish or declare any period as closed season for fishing in any fishery. Fishing or attempt to fish with any gear or method in the sanctuary or any other specified area notified by the Director is prohibited.23. Catching and killing of brood fishes, under-sized fishes, fish fry, fish spawn prohibited.
- Catching and killing of brood fishes under-sized fishes, fish fry, fish spawn of any variety of fish are strictly prohibited :Provided that nothing shall prohibit catching of any kind of fish authorised on that behalf by the Director for research or any other purpose.24. Creation and opening of bunds.
25. Creation of longkhum in river prohibited.
- No "longkhum" (under water bund) or any other type of bund shall be constructed any where in river commonly used by the public for navigation.26. Creation of bund for fisheries and sub-fisheries.
- Erection of only one bund is allowed for a fishery but in the case of registered sub-fishery erection of one 'Soi' for each sub-fishery is allowed.Part III – Auction Sale of Fishery Lease and Collection of Fishery Revenue Centre
27. Year of settlement.
- In settlement of fisheries the year should be reckoned from the first July to the 30th June following.28. Director to decide type of leasing system.
- The Director shall decide the suitable type of leasing system under Rule 16 of a particular fishery.29. Preferential leases for outright leasing system.
- Settlement of fisheries under outright leasing system will be made by the Director with the approval of the Government in the following manner in order of preference :30. Date and place of sale to be notified in the Gazette.
- In the case of settlement of fishery by outright leasing system, the Director shall annually fix a date not later than the 15th May on which and on as many days succeeding which as may be necessary he or any officer duly authorised by him shall auction all Government fisheries leases of which are due to expire at the end of the year. The date or dates so fixed shall be proclaimed by the Director at least a month in advance by a written notice in Form No. I to the public to be published in the Manipur Gazette and a copy of the notification shall be affixed on the Notice Board of the Director. The notice shall state the name of the fishery, its Register No, the average price for the last 3 years, the hour, the date and the place of sale.31. Lease to be for 3 to 5 years.
- The right of fishing in registered fisheries shall ordinarily be leased for not less than 3 years and not more than 5 years. If any of the lessee society before the expiry of lease, come forward to implement a developmental plan drawn up by the Fishery Department or drawn up by the lessee and approved by the Fisheries Department (involving fish culture on a substantial scale) and if the department is satisfied about the ability of the lessee to execute the same, an extension of the lease may be considered up to a further period of 9 to 15 years, and if felt justified, extend the lease further with reference to the performance of the lessee.32. Rent to be at the rate of Rs. 60 per hectare of fishery area per annum.
- The rental of fishery in the case of preferential lease other than by auction sale or departmental exploitation will be at the rate of Rs. 60 per hectare per annum for the fishery area :Provided that the capital investment at 3 % will be added in the case of fisheries improved with State expense.33. Place of sale.
- The place of sale shall be normally the office of the Director of Fisheries, Manipur or as may be notified by the Director.34. Bidders to furnish solvency certificate.
- Intending bidders for a fishery shall furnish proof of financial solvency to the satisfaction of the Director or the officer conducting the auction on his behalf.35. Bidders to deposit earnest money.
- Intending bidders shall deposit as earnest money ¼th of the average of the accepted bids in respect of the fishery concerned for the preceding 3 years before they are allowed to bid.36. Highest bid to be accepted.
- The Director or the auctioning officer working on his behalf or under his order, shall normally accept the highest bid unless there are special reasons for not doing so which shall be recorded in writing.37. Requisition for preferential lease.
- Societies/Individuals/Groups of persons entitled to preferential lease should also bid in the sale with necessary certificate and documents such as-38. Accepted bidder to make up ¼th of the revenue for the full term at the spot.
- On acceptance of a bid, the accepted bidder shall pay the difference between the earnest money deposited by him and ¼th of the revenue for the full term of the settlement on the acceptance of the bid. Failure to do so by the accepted bidder, shall entail forfeiture of the earnest money and settlement of fishery with the next higher bidder subject to the usual terms and conditions of sales of fisheries and payment of revenue.39. Security deposit.
- The earnest money together with such further amount as is necessary to make up ¼th of the accepted bid for the full term of the settlement shall be treated as the security deposit to be adjusted only towards the payment of the last instalment or instalments prescribed under Rule 40. In case the amount of the Earnest Money is more than ¼th of the fishery revenue due, excess amount shall be adjusted towards the payment of the first instalment.40. Payment, of annual amount of fishery revenue in instalments.
- The annual amount of fishery revenue as per terms of the bid or tenders shall be payable in equated instalments as follows :41. Fishery to be sold in case of relinquishment, default in payment.
- Should the lessee relinquish his lease during its tenure or default in any payment or infringe the term of the lease set out in Form No. 11 the lease may be terminated by the Director after giving an opportunity to the lessee concerned to explain as to why such action should not be taken and the fishery may be put to re-sale, which shall be at the risk and on account of the lessee concerned. In case of such re-sale not less than 10 day's notice of sale shall be given.42. Forfeiture of security deposit and imposition of fine on termination of lease.
- In case of termination of the lease under Rule 41 above, the security deposit under Rule 39, shall be forfeited and in addition the arrears of due shall be realised as arrears of land revenue under the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960 (33 of 1960) as amended from time to time. In addition the Director may impose as fine not exceeding Rs. 500 on the lessee which may be realised as arrear of land revenue.43. Entire accepted bid to be paid immediately if Rs. 500 or less.
- Notwithstanding the provision in Rule 38 above, if the accepted bid is Rs. 500 or less, the entire bid amount shall be paid by the auction purchaser immediately after acceptance of bid.44. Fishery to be reserved if the highest bid be less than Rs. 100.
- If the highest bid of any registered fishery is less than Rs. 100 such fishery may be reserved from sale until the ensuing year, unless in the meantime a bid of not less than Rs. 100 is made for it.45. Execution of lease and counterpart as confirmation of sale.
- When the sale of a fishery has been confirmed by the authority as per Annexure "A" of Rule 47 below, a lease and a counterpart shall be executed and interchanged in Forms Nos. II and III.46. Fishery to be resold and security deposit forfeited for failure to execute counterpart.
- If the purchaser of a Government fishery fails to execute a counterpart (acceptance of leased in Form No. III) within 2 weeks after receipt of information of confirmation of the sale issued to him by the Director as per Rule 47 below, the same fishery shall be re-sold and security deposit under Rules 38 and 39 shall be forfeited.47. Confirmation of sale by the Director and sale not to become final unless confirm.
- If on the expiry of 30 days from the date of sale of any fishery or of such further period as may be allowed by the Director, no application has been made for setting aside the sale, or if any such application has been made for setting aside the sale and rejected by the Director or the officer to whom powers have been delegated vide Annexure"A" below shall issue confirmation order.Annexure "A" of Rule 47| Sl.No. | Item | Power delegated to |
| (1) | (2) | (3) |
| 1. | Issue of auction notice. | Regional/District Fishery Officer or any other officerauthorised by the Director of Fisheries. |
| 2. | Issue of tender notice. | (i) Waters up to 50 hectares-Fishery Officers. |
| (ii) Waters over 50 hectares but not exceeding 100hectares-Regional Fishery Officer or any other Officerauthorised by the Director of Fisheries. | ||
| (iii) Waters over 100 hectares-Director of Fisheries. | ||
| 3. | Conducting auction. | Fishery Officers in all cases. |
| 4. | Opening of tenders. | Director of Fisheries or any officer authorised by theDirector. |
| 5. | Fixation of royalty rates in respect of preferential cases. | State Government on the recommendation of the Director ofFisheries. |
| 6. | Confirmation of bids in auction or tenders subject oflimitation of area referred to under item 4 above, so far astenders are concerned. | (i) Fishery Officer-up to Rs. 1000. |
| (ii) Regional Fisheries Officers/District Fishery Officer orany other officer of the rank-up to Rs. 5,000. | ||
| (iii) Director of Fisheries-over Rs. 5,000. | ||
| 7. | Signing of agreements irrespective of amount involved. | Regional Fishery Officer/District Fishery Officer or anyother officer authorised by the Director: |
| (i) Regional Fisheries Officers or any officer of the samerank-up to Rs. 100. | ||
| (ii) Director of Fisheries-up to Rs. 500. | ||
| (iii) State Government-above Rs. 500. | ||
| 9. | Granting of time for payment of lease amount that became due(only once during each lease-payment period for each water areairrespective of lease amount). This power shall be exercisedonly once by the officer concerned with reference to any onelease. | (i) Director of Fisheries-up to 6 (six) months; |
| (ii) State Government-to any extent on the recommendation ofDirector of Fisheries. | ||
| 10. | Issue of licences. | Inspectors of Fisheries or equivalent or any officerauthorised by the Director. |