Fisheries Ordinance. Chapters 195.

This Ordinance provides for licensing of motor fishing vessels and for the regulation of any method of catching fishing. Fishing vessel means any ship, boat, canoe or other craft used for the taking of fish for sale or barter; fish means any aquatic animal whether piscine or not, and includes shell-fish, crustaceans, turtles and aquatic mammals. The Ordinance prevents unlicensed motor fishing vessels from operating or navigating within Sierra Leone, except for foreign fishing vessels passing through the territorial waters of Sierra Leone. The Minister is empowered to issue licences and the Ordinance prescribes specific forms and conditions related to the issuance, the renewal and the transfer of licences. The Ordinance concerns offences; powers of court; power of examination and detention; governmental power to issue Regulations covering the following aspects: restricting the taking of fish in any specified area within Sierra Leone, prohibiting the use of any fishing vessel, or other apparatus to take fish if considered harmful to the fishing industry of Sierra Leone, prescribing limits to the size of the nets or the mesh of nets that may be employed in motor fishing vessels, providing for inspections of buildings and premises, regulating any other matter relating to the conservation, protection and maintenance of a stock of fish.