Revised Statutes of Newfoundland 1990 Chapter F-19

(a) "applicant" means an individual, partnership, company, co-operative society or other body, whether or not it is incorporated, that applies for a bounty under this Act;

(b) "approved builder" means a builder who has the qualifications for an approved builder as prescribed by the regulations;

(d) "determined life" means

(i) in the case of wooden ships, up to 10 years,

(ii) in the case of fiberglass or aluminum ships, up to 15 years, and

(iii) in the case of steel ships, up to 20 years from the date of issue by the director of the certificate referred to in section 12;

(e) "director" means the director of vessel construction and inspection appointed in accordance with this Act;

(f) "division" means the division of vessel construction and inspection in the Department of Fisheries of the province;

(g) "electronic equipment" means electronic equipment proved to be of significant benefit in the navigation of a ship or in the catching of fish by a ship;

(h) "fisheries of Newfoundland" means a fishery, including the sealfishery, which fishers residing in the province and discharging their fish in ports in the province regularly carry on as a means of making a livelihood and includes the catching of fish and every other phase of fishery production but not the collection of fish or fish products;

(i) "inspector" means an inspector appointed in accordance with this Act and includes the director;

(j) "length overall" or "overall length" means the length of a ship from the forward part of the stem to the after side of the rim timbers;

(k) "log" means a record, in the form and with a content prescribed by the regulations, to be kept by the captain of a ship;

(l) "mechanized fishing equipment" means a gurdy, danish seine winch, dragging winch, power block or other proved power equipment for fishing which is suitable to the tonnage of a particular ship and complies with the regulations;

(m) "minister" means the Minister of Fisheries;

(n) "permit" means

(i) a permit to build a ship referred to in section 4 and issued in accordance with section 5, or

(ii) a permit issued in accordance with section 6;

(o) "registered gross tonnage" or "gross registered tons" means the gross tonnage of a ship as shown on the register of the ship;

(p) "resident of the province" means a person with Canadian citizenship who has resided in the province for a continuous period of not less than 1 year;

(q) "ship" means a ship built to plans designed in the division or to other plans approved by the minister;

(r) "ton" or "tonnage" means registered gross tonnage where the reference is to the payment of bounty and underdeck tonnage where the reference is to timber sizes forming the scantlings of ships; and

(s) "underdeck tonnage" or "tons underdeck" means the tonnage contained within the space below the main deckline of a ship derived by the following formula:

where L represents the overall length of the ship measured from the foremost part of the stemhead to the aftermost part of the transom rim timber or transom bulwark taffrail on the centre line of the ship, B represents the breadth amidships at deckline in metres to the outside of planking and D represents the greater of

(i) depth of the vessel amidships in metres from the top of deck beam at centre line of vessel to the top of transverse floors, and

(ii) .90 times the depth amidships in metres from the top of deck beam at centre line to the top of the wood keel.

RSN1970 c137 s2; 1980 c31 s1; 1980 c42 s1

3. (1) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may appoint a director of vessel construction and inspection who shall perform the duties which are imposed upon or delegated to him or her under this or another Act or by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council or by the minister.

(2) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may appoint those inspectors and technical and other assistants that are necessary for the administration of this Act and they shall be responsible to the director and perform the duties which are imposed upon or delegated to them by this or another Act or by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council or by the minister or by the director.

RSN1970 c137 s4

4. (1) A person who intends to apply for the payment of a bounty shall, before he or she begins construction of the ship, apply to the minister for a permit to build the ship in respect of which he or she intends to apply for the payment and shall, in respect of the ship, at the time of making the application supply the minister with

(a) plans and specifications of the ship, except where the ship is to be built to plans designed in the division;

(b) information on the make and type of engine to be installed;

(d) information on the make and type of electronic equipment to be installed;

(e) the information that the minister requires to show the applicant's ability to complete the building of the ship; and

(f) other information that the minister requires.

(2) To qualify for a permit, an applicant

(a) who is an individual shall be, and shall satisfy the minister that he or she is,

(i) a resident of the province of legal age, and

(ii) applying on his or her own behalf and not on behalf of some other person;

(b) that is a partnership, company, co-operative society or other body, whether or not it is incorporated, shall satisfy the minister

(i) that each individual making up the membership is a resident of the province,

(ii) that it is applying on its own behalf and not on behalf of some other person,

and each individual who applies or, in the case of a partnership, company, co-operative society or other body that applies, each individual in that partnership, company, society or body,

(c) shall have and shall satisfy the minister that he or she has obtained at least 75% of his or her income from the harvesting sector of the fishery in each of the past 2 fishing seasons in his or her region;

(d) shall have and shall satisfy the minister that he or she has had fishing experience as a full-time fisher during the past 2 years either as an apprentice crew member, an owner-operator or a co-owner operator for the fishing season in his or her region;

(e) shall give an undertaking to the minister that during the determined life the engine and power equipment of the ship will be operated only by a person who has satisfied the minister that he or she has sufficient working knowledge of marine engineering to operate the engine and power equipment;

(f) shall give an undertaking to the minister that during the period of the determined life the ship and mechanized gear will be operated only by a person who has satisfied the minister that he or she has sufficient working knowledge of navigation and the operation of mechanized fishing gear to operate the ship in a type of fishing to which the ship is suited;

(g) shall give an undertaking to the minister that during the period of the determined life the captain of the ship shall keep a daily log and shall produce that log for examination by an inspector or other person who visits the ship on instructions from the minister; and

(h) shall give an undertaking to the minister that during the period of the determined life no alterations shall be made to the hull or superstructure of the ship and no changes shall be made in the engine, gear box, stern gear, underwater fittings, fuel tanks, stove, mechanized fishing gear or electronic aids unless written permission to make those alterations or changes is first obtained from the minister.

(3) Where a fisher is unable to meet the requirements of paragraphs (2)(c) and (d) and that inability has been caused

(a) by the illness of the fisher;

(b) because the fisher has been engaged in the offshore harvesting sector of the fishery; or

(c) because the fisher has been engaged in a fisheries related activity that in the opinion of the minister is designed to improve the fisher's ability to prosecute the fishery,

the minister may waive in whole or in part the requirements of paragraphs (2)(c) and (d).

RSN1970 c137 s5; 1980 c31 s2; 1980 c42 s2

5. (1) The minister may issue the permit after being satisfied with the information supplied under section 4 and that the applicant has applied in good faith.

(2) Where the director has reason to believe that the applicant will have to conform with another Act of the Legislature or of the Parliament of Canada or with a regulation made under that Act, the director shall so advise the applicant, but nothing in this subsection imposes a duty on the director to see that the applicant conforms with the other Act or regulation.

RSN1970 c137 s6

6. (1) A builder who intends to build a ship for the purposes of this Act is required to be an approved builder and shall apply to the minister for a permit to build the ship.

(2) The minister may grant a permit to an approved builder who

(a) submits to and has approved by the minister, the plans and specifications of the ship, except where the ship is to be built to plans designed in the division;

(b) obtains an inspection schedule from the minister;

(c) undertakes in writing to pay the inspection fees set out in the regulations, which fees shall be refunded where the ship is sold to a person who obtains a bounty under this Act;

(d) undertakes in writing to release the minister from responsibility for the financing of the ship during or after construction; and

(e) undertakes in writing to halt construction of the ship when the hull, as defined in the regulations, is completed.

(3) A permit may be issued only for the construction of a ship that is a decked vessel equal to or more than 10 tons underdeck.

(4) Unless otherwise permitted by the minister, construction of a ship in respect to which a permit is issued under this section shall be completed to the satisfaction of the minister in the shipyard in which construction began.

1980 c42 s3

7. The minister shall pay bounty on a ship which is

(a) built under a permit;

(b) newly built in the province with new materials;

(d) fitted with a new low combustion engine which is of diesel type and which the minister has approved for installation in the ship;

(e) fitted with mechanized fishing equipment which the minister has approved for installation in the ship;

(f) fitted with electronic equipment which the minister has approved for installation in the ship;

(g) fitted with an auxiliary generator which the minister has approved for installation in the ship;

(h) completed within 2 years of the issue of the permit for it where the ship is not more than 100 tons under deck and within 3 years where the ship is over 100 tons under deck; and

(i) registered in Canada.

RSN1970 c137 s7; 1980 c42 s4

8. (1) No more than 1 tonnage bounty may be paid under this Act within a 5 year period to

(a) a fisher; or

(b) a group of fishers that has in its membership 1 or more individuals who have either as individual fishers or as members of a group of fishers obtained a tonnage bounty within the last 5 years.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the minister may pay more than 1 tonnage bounty within a 5 year period to

(a) a fisher; or

(b) a group of fishers that has in its membership 1 or more individuals who have either as individual fishers or as members of a group of fishers obtained a tonnage bounty within the last 5 years

whose ship has been lost or damaged to such an extent that it cannot be used in the fishery.

1983 c68 s1

9. The minister shall not pay bounty in respect of a ship unless an inspector has inspected and approved the sizes of scantlings for use in the ship and surveyed the ship and given a certificate of each survey to the minister

(a) when the keel has been laid and the stem and stern posts have been erected;

(b) when the frames, beams, clamps, shelves and lodging clamps are in place and before they are covered by planking or plating;

(d) when the ship has been completed, with the gear and equipment fitted and has had a sea trial satisfactory to the minister.

RSN1970 c137 s8

10. (1) The minister shall pay bounties under this section only in respect of ships

(a) which the owners or applicants for permits undertake in writing to use mainly in the fisheries of the province for the period of the determined life;

(b) which are of a type and structure suitable in the opinion of the minister for use in the fisheries of the province; and

(2) The minister shall pay, on ships built according to the regulations, those bounties and according to those rates that may be prescribed by the regulations.

(3) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council shall, by regulations, prescribe the minimum and maximum gross tonnages on which bounty may be paid.

(4) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may, by regulations, prescribe the aggregate tonnage of ships on which bounty may be paid during a period to be prescribed in the regulations.

RSN1970 c137 s9; 1980 c31 s4

11. (1) Where a person builds a ship under a permit or is the owner or prospective owner of a ship built under a permit issued under section 6 and sells the ship to a person not mainly engaged in the fisheries of the province or for purposes other than use mainly in those fisheries or diverts or allows the ship to be diverted to be used mainly for a purpose other than in those fisheries and that person has not received the bounty payable to him or her, bounty shall not be paid to a person in respect of that ship.

(2) Where a person builds a ship under a permit or is the owner or prospective owner of a ship built under a permit issued under section 6 and receives a bounty in respect of the ship and within the determined life sells the ship to a purchaser not mainly engaged in the fisheries of the province or for purposes other than use mainly in those fisheries or allows the ship in his or her own hands or in the hands of another person to be diverted to be used mainly for a purpose other than in those fisheries, that person shall repay to the minister immediately the bounty or that portion of it that the minister considers appropriate, and the person who received the bounty and another person to whom the ship comes by sale, transfer, mortgage, operation of law or otherwise shall become and continue liable for the repayment of the bounty or the portion of it that the minister considers appropriate.

(3) The minister may require a person referred to in subsection (2) to execute and deliver to the minister a statutory mortgage made and registered in accordance with the Canada Shipping Act (Canada) to secure the repayment of the bounty or a portion of it but nothing in this subsection or subsection (2) requires the bounty to be repaid to the minister more than once, and the minister may, where he or she considers it desirable to do so, release a mortgage given under this subsection without repayment of the bounty by the mortgagor.

(4) The minister may recover money owing under this section as a debt due the Crown.

RSN1970 c137 s10; 1980 c31 s5; 1980 c42 s5

12. When the minister receives a certificate from the director that a ship has been built and surveyed in accordance with this Act and is otherwise qualified for a bounty, the minister shall pay the bounty from funds voted by the Legislature, and the bounty may be paid

(a) to the person to whom the permit was issued under subsection 4(1) or to the executors, administrators or assigns of that person; or

(b) to the prospective owner or to the executors, administrators or assigns of that prospective owner in the case of a ship built under a permit issued under section 6.

1980 c42 s6

13. (1) The right to receive payment of a bounty accrues upon the final survey of a ship and upon the ship being registered, but the minister may pay advances that he or she thinks appropriate upon the certificate of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd surveys provided for in section 9, but the total amount which the minister may pay under this section by way of advance shall not exceed in all 3/4 of the bounty estimated to be due in respect of the ship upon completion.

(2) A person who receives an advance under subsection (1) and fails to complete the ship within the time specified in this Act, shall repay to the minister in full the amount of the advance, and the minister may recover that amount as a debt due the Crown.

(3) A person who receives an advance under subsection (1) where the ship in respect to which the bounty is payable is being built by an approved builder and the approved builder fails to complete the ship within the time specified in this Act, shall repay the minister in full the amount of the advance, and the minister may recover the amount as a debt due the Crown in right of the province.

RSN1970 c137 s12; 1980 c42 s7

14. (1) The owner of a ship on which bounty has been paid shall keep the hull and engines and equipment of the ship in good repair and otherwise show good ship's husbandry during the period of the determined life.

(2) An inspector, on instructions from the minister, may, for the purpose of enforcing subsection (1), at any time inspect the hull and engine of a ship referred to in that subsection.

(3) When an inspector reports to the minister the results of an inspection under subsection (2), the minister may make whatever order that he or she considers appropriate in respect of the maintenance, repair or cleaning of the hull or engine of the ship and the repayment to the minister of the whole or a part of the bounty specified in the order, consequent on the failure to comply with subsection (1), and the owner of the ship shall comply with that order.

RSN1970 c137 s13; 1980 c31 s5

15. The minister may, during the period of the determined life, require the owner of every ship on which bounty has been paid to furnish the minister,

(a) at those times and from time to time as the minister prescribes,

with

(b) a statement of ownership of that ship; and

(c) an affidavit or statutory declaration to the effect that that ship is being used mainly in the fisheries of the province,

and

(d) the minister may require that the affidavit or statutory declaration referred to in paragraph (c) contain information respecting the amount of fish caught during a period specified by the minister,

and that owner shall comply with every requirement of the minister under this section.

RSN1970 c137 s14; 1980 c31 s5

16. Where the owner of a ship on which bounty has been paid fails to use the ship mainly in the fisheries of the province according to the undertaking referred to in paragraph 10(1)(a), the minister may make an order for the repayment to the minister of the whole or a part of the bounty specified in the order, consequent on that failure, and the owner of the ship shall comply with that order.

RSN1970 c137 s15

17. (1) The Lieutenant- Governor in Council may make regulations

(a) providing for the designation by the minister of persons as approved builders for the purpose of building ships in accordance with this Act;

(b) prescribing the requirements and qualifications which a person shall meet and fulfil in order to be designated as an approved builder for the purposes of this Act;

(d) prescribing standards and specifications to be met in the construction of ships under permit;

(e) prescribing the conditions under which ships built under permit shall be built so as to provide adequate support for them while they are under construction and to provide reasonable protection for them against damage by sun, wind and weather;

(f) prescribing the standards and specifications to be met in the fitting of rudders, steering wheels, steering chain and steering chain blocks;

(g) prescribing the form and content of the log to be kept by the captain of a ship for the purpose of this Act;

(h) prescribing, for the purpose of subsection 10(2), what bounties shall be payable under this Act and the rate in accordance with which those bounties are to be paid;

(i) prescribing, for the purpose of subsection 10(3), the minimum and maximum gross tonnages on which bounty may be paid;

(j) prescribing, for the purpose of subsection 10(4), the aggregate tonnage of ships on which bounty may be paid during a period prescribed in those regulations; and

(k) respecting other matters or things not specifically mentioned in this subsection which are required to carry out the objects of this Act.

(2) Regulations made under this section may be limited as to time or place.

(3) Regulations made under this section may be made with retroactive effect.

RSN1970 c137 s16

18. The minister may prescribe forms for effecting the purpose of this Act and the regulations.

RSN1970 c137 s17

19. The minister may recover, as a debt due to the Crown, the bounty or part of bounty the subject of an order under subsection 14(3) or under section 16 which has not been repaid according to that order.

RSN1970 c137 s18

20. A person who contravenes this Act or who, being required under this Act to furnish information or issue a certificate, in furnishing the information or issuing the certificate, makes a statement which he or she knows to be false is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $500 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 4 months or to both the fine and imprisonment.

RSN1970 c137 s19