PISHING LAUNCHES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 280, 29 April 1914, Page 5

PISHING LAUNCHES.

AX IXTERESTiXC DECISION. By Tclcgrapli—l'ress Association. Auckland, Last Night. A judgment of particular interest to owners of registered fishing launches was given this morning by Mr. Frazcr, S.M., in the case against Jns. Carroll, master of the fishing launch Hero, charged with that 011 Sunday, January 18, being the master of a steamship under the Shipping and Seamen's Act. he took the steamship on an excursion yithout the boat having a certificate of survey. It was admitted that tlio launch was a registered Ashing boat, and that on the date in question the defendant took a party of friends on a fishing excursion to Waiheke, the party subscribing 15s to pay for benzine. After traversing (he contention of t'no prosecution that a boat registered as a iishing boat and incidentally exempted from the necessity of a survey certificate, could not change her status to that of a pleasure boat so long as the registration existed, his Worship held that while a registered fishing boat of less than ten tons is regarded as a 4 fishing boat for the purposes of the Fisheries Act, so long as her registration subsists, no matter for what purpose she may be used, still she may temporarily be divested of that status for the purposes of the Shipping and Seamen's Act, and become a pleasure-boat, and be entitled to the exemption allowed to pleasure yachts "by the latter Act so long as she retains that character. To hold otherwise would be equivalent to ruling that the owner of a registered fishing launch is for no apparent reason debarred from the privilege of entertaining his relatives and friends, which is granted freely to the owner of a similar vessel which is not so registered. The information was dismissed.