An Act to empower the Corporation of the City of Dunedin to engage in the Fishing Industry and in any Industry related or allied to the Fishing Industry, and to do all things necessary in providing and controlling the Supply of Fish for the Citizens of Dunedin and Surrounding Districts; and to empower the said Corporation to purchase, sell, manage, and otherwise deal in Sheep, and to use any of the Lands controlled by or vested in the said Corporation in the Depasture of such Sheep.

BE IT ENACTED by the General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1 Short Title

This Act may be cited as the Dunedin City Fish-markets and Empowering Act 1918.

2 Interpretation

In this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

The city means the City of Dunedin as now or hereafter constituted

The Council means the Dunedin City Council

The fish-market means the fish-market for the time being established by the Council

The Inspector means an Inspector appointed under the Food Act 1981.

The reference to the Food and Drugs Act 1947 was substituted, as from 14 August 1947, for a reference to the Sale of Food and Drugs Act 1908 pursuant to section 33(1) Food and Drugs Act 1947 (1947 No 7). That Act was in turn repealed, as from 1 April 1970, by section 48 Food and Drug Act 1969 (1969 No 7). That Act was consolidated, as from 1 August 1984, by section 115 Medicines Act 1981 (1981 No 118). Refer now to the Food Act 1981 (1981 No 45).

3 Power to engage in fish industry

It shall be lawful for the Council to do all things necessary to engage in the business of dealing in fish and in any industry related or allied to the business of a fish-dealer, and, without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by this clause, the Council may—
- (a) Purchase, hire, or otherwise acquire, or use, or contract for the use of, vessels, boats, and conveyances for the purpose of catching or securing fish and conveying the same to the fish-market or elsewhere:
- (b) Purchase by contract or otherwise, as the Council may determine, from any fishermen or fish-dealers or other persons fish for wholesale or retail disposal, and generally carry on all branches of the business of a fish-dealer and auctioneer, including the conduct and management of one or more shops for the retail disposal of such fish or other articles of food usually handled by the retail dealer in fish:
- (c) Establish and maintain a fish-market, together with depots for receiving fish from fishermen and others:
- (d) Clean, smoke, store, and otherwise deal with fish on such terms as the Council may from time to time determine:
- (e) Buy or sell or otherwise deal with, on such terms as the Council thinks fit, trawlers and fishing-boats, nets, gear, stores, and any other things required or used by fishermen:
- (f) Establish and equip with all necessary machinery and appliances (whether within or beyond the boundaries of the city) such smokehouses, freezing-chambers, cool stores, and other buildings, plant, works, and machinery as it may from time to time deem necessary to provide for the storage or preservation by any means of fish or other articles of food:
- (g) Treat and convert into manure or other marketable product fish that may be unsaleable for human consumption and the offal and other waste products of fish, and sell and dispose of such manure and other products:
- (h) Purchase or otherwise acquire land, with or without buildings erected thereon, for all or any of the purposes as aforesaid, and sell or otherwise dispose of the same or any part thereof.

4 Notice that market available

Upon the completion of the fish-market the Council shall, by notice published in a newspaper circulating in the city, notify that such market has been duly established and will be available for the reception of fish on and after a date to be specified in such notice, being not sooner than seven days after the publication thereof, whereupon the following provisions shall forthwith apply:—
- (a) No person shall sell or expose or offer for sale within the city, or for consumption within the city, any fish for human consumption until he has caused the same to be inspected by the Inspector at the fish-market or other place or places appointed by the Council in that behalf and such Inspector has certified that such fish is fit for human consumption, or unless such Inspector has otherwise certified that such fish is fit for human consumption:
- (b) All sales of fish by auction and all sales of fish in wholesale quantities shall be held in the fish-market or in some other place or places appointed by the Council in that behalf, and it shall not be lawful for any person to sell fish wholesale or by auction within the city, except at such market or other place or places as hereinbefore mentioned:
  
  Provided that any wholesale fishmonger or fish-auctioneer who shall be carrying on business as such on the first day of January, nineteen hundred and eighteen, may continue to carry on such business notwithstanding this section.

5 Penalty

Every person is liable to a fine not exceeding forty dollars who directly or indirectly by himself, his agent or servant,—
- (a) Resists or wilfully obstructs any Inspector or other officer under this Act in the performance of his duty; or
- (b) Refuses to give information or gives false information in answer to any inquiry made by any such Inspector or other officer in the performance of his duty; or
- (c) Commits a breach of any of the provisions of this Act or of any by-law made thereunder.
The words “forty dollars” were substituted, as from 10 July 1967, for the words “twenty pounds” pursuant to section 7(1) Decimal Currency Act 1964 (1964 No 27).

6 Council to appoint Inspectors, &c

The Council shall appoint such officers and servants as it deems necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act and of any by-law or other regulations made in terms hereof.

7 Council may make by-laws

The Council may make by-laws under and in manner provided by the Local Government Act 1974, for the more effectual administration of this Act, and in particular may in such by-laws provide for all or any of the following matters:—
- (a) Regulating and controlling the times at which and the methods to be employed for the cleaning of fish at the fish-market, and prohibiting the cleaning of fish at any place save and except in such market.
- (b) Regulating and controlling the disposal of all fish-offal and any fish lawfully condemned as unfit for human food.
- (c) Regulating and controlling the conveyance of fish to any wholesale or retail shop within the city, either from the fish-market or from any other place or places within or beyond the boundaries of the city.
- (d) Fixing fees and charges for the inspection, cleaning, and preparation for sale of any fish in the fish-market, and for the storage, freezing, smoking, or preservation, and for the sale by the Council either privately or by auction, of any fish or other articles of food.
A reference to the Municipal Corporations Act 1920 was substituted, as from 1 April 1920, for a reference to the Municipal Corporations Act 1908 pursuant to section 385(1) Municipal Corporations Act 1920 (1920 No 48). A reference to the Municipal Corporations Act 1933 was substituted, as from 20 December 1933, for a reference to the Municipal Corporations Act 1920 pursuant to section 393(1) Municipal Corporations Act 1933 (1933 No 30). That reference was in turn substituted, as from 1 October 1954, by a reference to the Municipal Corporations Act 1954 pursuant to section 413 Municipal Corporations Act 1954 (1954 No 76). That reference was in turn substituted, as from 1 April 1980, by a reference to the Local Government Act 1974 pursuant to section 9(1) Local Government Amendment Act 1979 (1979 No 59).

8 Amount of charges in default may be sued for

If default is made in the non-payment of any charges made or payable under the authority of this Act or the said by-laws, the Council or any person appointed or authorized by it in that behalf may at any time after such default recover the amount by action in any Court of competent jurisdiction, or by distress and sale of any goods in any fish-market, smokehouse, cool store, or freezing-chamber and belonging to the person by whom the said charges are payable.

9 Council may buy and sell sheep

It shall be lawful for the Council to buy and sell sheep, and to depasture the same on any of the domains, reserves, parks, gardens, or other lands held or controlled by or vested in the Council.

Dunedin City Fish-markets And Empowering Act 1918