Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Power to make bye-laws . :i~ . Repeal and saving. 34/11 !lOJB. • ' I ' ' • 29 THE KERALA FISHERMEN WELFARE SOCIETIES ACT, 1980° (Act 7 of 1981) An Act to prouide for the organisation of fisheries viLlage and to constitut- Jtshlrmen welfare socitties for such villages u;tth a vtew to develofJ the ccononzic, soctal and cultural life nf the ftshernun comnzu1uty in the State of h ·erala. Preamble -Whereas the main avocation and means of livelihood of the fishermen community in the State of Kcrala is fishing; And Whereas the entire econo1ny of more than four hundred villages, which arc inhabited mainly by members of the fishermen community, depends upon the income of those members frotn fishing operat1ons including sale of the catches; And Whereas the fishermen arc, to a large extent, indebted to money lenders who arc exploiting the economy of the fishermen community in general; And Whereas the boats, crafts and nets used for fishing are not owned by the fishermen, but by others who exploit the fishermen by exproprlating the major part of their earnings as rent of such implements and other charges in respect thereof; .~.~nd Whereas the fishermen are also explo1ted by money-lenders and middlemen by purchasing or otherwise depriving them of thcir catches without payment of the due price therefor, either by advancing money or by any other method; And Whereas the fishermen arc so deprived of the lcgiu mate fruits of their industry and labour; And Whereas it 1s necessary to end explo1tation of fishermen by money- lenders and middlemen and to develop the econo1nic, soc1al and cultural life of the fishermen commnnity; BE it enacted in the Thirty-fit ,t Y car of the Republic of India as follows:- 1 . Short t ztle, 1xte,1t and conznzencement .-( 1 ) 1"P i ~ A\ ct rna y be called the .Kerala Ftshcrmen Welfare Socicttcs Act, 19HO. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Kerala. (3) It shall be deemed to have cotne into force on the 21st day of November, 1980. 2 Difanitions. -In thts Act, unless the context otherwise r~quires, (a} "committee" means the committee of a society ~ (b) "Director" means the Director of Fi~heries for the State of Kerala · and includes any other officer appointed by tl1e Govf'rnmcnt to exercise the powers and perform the functions of rh~ Darector under this Act; * Received the assent of the Governor on the 16th day of January, 1981 and published 111 the Kerala Gazette Extraordinary No. 48 dated the 16thjanuaty, 1981. • ' 30 (c) "fish'' includes sh~ll-fish, prawns and lobsters ; (d) ''Fisheries Officer" 1neans an officer appointed a; sucl1 by the Government for each fishcri~s vdlagc to exerc1se the po\vers and perform the functions ot the Fisheries Officer under this Act; (c) "fisher1nan" me~ns any person engaged mainly in fi'hutg opera- tions for h1s 1 i velihood; .. (f) "fishermen's welfare soctety'' or '~-soctety, mcat,s a society constituted by the Government under section 4, 6) (g) '(fisheries village' , means an area declared by the Government under section 3 to be a fisherJes vilJage ; (h) "fisrung operations, includcs- (i) fishing by any rneans, mechanical or otherwise; and (1i) the sale of 1narine products.by:menlbers of families of fishermen, by transporting them to different places by headload or cycleload; (t) "mat ine products" includes fi~h and ~hell: fish grown or cultured and caught from any inland waters. Explanation -For the purposts of thts clause, " inland waters', includes ponds, tanks and reservoirs; (j) "member, means a member of a society; (k) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (1) ''president" means the president, of the comtnittee of a society; (m) "secretary" means the secretary of the co~mittee of a society ; (n) ''State" means the State of Kerala.