57.— (1) In addition to the power of making bye-laws conferred on him or her by any other section of the Inland Fisheries Acts, the Minister may, at the request of IFI or on his or her own initiative, make such bye-laws as are in his or her opinion expedient for the more effectual government, management, protection and improvement of the fisheries of the State or any part of the State or in any fishery district in relation to all or any of the following matters—

(a) the regulation of the fisheries of the State or that fishery district and the preservation of good order amongst the persons engaged in them,

(b) the times and seasons at which the taking of the several species of fish shall commence and cease, including bye-laws varying the weekly close time in relation to any river or the weekly close time in relation to any fishing weir which is the subject of an order under section 107(2) of the Principal Act (being bye-laws which do not reduce the weekly close time to less then 48 hours),

(c) the times and places or the manner at and in which any fishing engine to be employed in those fisheries or that fishery district may be used,

(d) the description and form of nets to be used in those fisheries or that fishery district and the size of their meshes,

(e) the prohibition of the use of nets,

(f) the prohibition of the use at any time of any fishing engine which is in the opinion of the Minister injurious to those fisheries or that fishery district,

(g) the prohibition of any practice whatsoever tending in the opinion of the Minister to impede the lawful capture of fish or to be in any manner detrimental to those fisheries or that fishery district,

(h) the imposition of prohibitions or restrictions of an emergency character on the taking by any specified engine or engines of the several species of fish or of any of those species for a specified period not exceeding one year in duration where, in the opinion of the Minister, such prohibitions or restrictions are necessary, and

(i) any other matter or thing relating in any manner to the government and protection of those fisheries or that fishery district.

(2) A person who contravenes or fails to comply with a bye-law made under this section (other than a bye-law referred to in subsection (4)) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €1,000.

(3) Any fish illegally taken by a person or in his or her possession at the time of an offence referred to in subsection (2) and also any fishing engine or thing by means or in respect of which the offence is committed, as a statutory consequence of conviction, stands forfeited.

(4) A person who contravenes a bye-law made under this section which—

(a) prohibits the use, or attempt to use either generally or in a manner specified in the bye-law in fishing for salmon or trout, any drift net, or 2 or more drift nets joined together, or any drift net, or 2 or more drift nets so joined, which is of a specified class or description,

(b) prohibits the having on board any boat, either generally or in an area which is specified in the bye-law, any such drift net or nets,

(c) prohibits the use, or attempt to use, in fishing for salmon or trout, any net made wholly or partly from monofilament or multistrand monofilament, or

(d) prohibits the having on board any boat, or the possession for the capture of fish on any quay, on or near any bank of a river or estuary, or on or near any sea coast or at sea, any net mounted or otherwise prepared for use in fishing and made wholly or partly of monofilament or multistrand monofilament, or of monofilament or multistrand monofilament with a mesh greater than a size specified in the bye-law,

commits an offence and is liable—

(i) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €2,000, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €10,000,

and fish illegally taken by him or her or in his or her possession at the time of the offence and also any fishing engine or thing by means or in respect of which the offence is committed, as a statutory consequence of conviction, stands forfeited.

(5) A bye-law made under this section—

(a) comes into operation on the day specified in it or, if no such day is specified, on the 28th day after the day on which it is made, and

(b) shall be published as soon as may be after its making—

(i) in the Iris Oifigiúil, and a notice advising of the making of the bye-law and its contents shall be published in one or more newspapers circulating in the district affected by the bye-law, and

(ii) on the website (if any) on the internet maintained by IFI.

(6) A copy of the bye-law shall, within one month after it comes into operation, be forwarded, in such manner as the Minister decides, to—

(a) the county registrar for every county which or part of which is affected by the bye-law,

(b) the District Court Clerk of every Court District which or part of which is affected by the bye-law, and

(c) every station of the Garda Síochána within the area affected.

(7) (a) Any person aggrieved by a bye-law under this section may, within 28 days after its publication in the Iris Oifigiúil, appeal to the High Court against the making of the bye-law. Any appeal does not effect the operation of the bye-law pending the outcome of the appeal.

(b) The judge hearing the appeal may confirm or annul the bye-law but if the bye-law is annulled, the annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything done under or in pursuance of the bye-law before its annulment.

(c) The decision of the High Court on the appeal shall be final and conclusive.

(d) An order made by the High Court on an appeal under paragraph (a) shall be published and deposited in the manner prescribed by subsections (5) and (6).

(8) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Principal Act, the Minister may, if he or she thinks fit—

(a) make a bye-law, without previously having held an inquiry into the feasibility of making the bye-law, under any provision of the Principal Act empowering him or her to make a bye-law, and

(b) make a bye-law, without an application having been made to the Minister to have an inquiry held into the feasibility of making the bye-law—

(i) altering the period which is in any locality the annual close season for salmon and trout, the annual close season for angling for salmon, the annual close season for angling for trout, the annual close season for pollen, the annual close season for eels, or the close season for oysters, or

(ii) under section 272 of the Principal Act.

(9) Any bye-law made under section 9 (repealed by section 4) of the Principal Act which is in force immediately before the establishment day continues in force as if made under this section.