Section 7 Sea fishery officer may award compensation under ten pounds.

Where an offence has been committed by any person belonging to a British sea-fishing boat in Scotland, or in F4the Scottish zone, against the Sea Fisheries Acts, whereby any injury is done by one sea-fishing boat to another, or the nets, lines, and gear thereof, or any of the apparatus used in fishing by the said boat, it shall be lawful for any F5British sea-fishery officer to whom complaint is made by the party injured, verbally or in writing, to make such examination or inquiry into the said complaint as he deems necessary, and, after affording the respondent an opportunity of being heard, to prepare and sign a report to the Scottish Ministers, setting forth succinctly the facts of the case and the amount of the damage done, and he shall supply a copy of such report to the party injured or to the respondent on payment of the sum of F65p therefor, and it shall be competent for either party in any legal proceedings that may be raised for the recovery of the damage or any part thereof, to call upon the Scottish Ministers to transmit such report to the clerk of the court in which such case is to be tried, and such report shall be received as evidence in the cause without requiring that the said British sea-fishery officer shall appear to make oath to the truth thereof, and when such report is produced, no other evidence shall be received of the amount of such damage unless the court shall consider it necessary, in order to be able to do justice in the cause; and in any case in which the damage as found by the F7sheriff principal before whom the case comes for trial shall exceed twelve pounds, appeal shall be competent as in ordinary causes before the sheriff court.