It’s an offence to handle a salmon while looking suspicious! 1 April 2021

Did You Know? It’s an offence to handle a salmon while looking suspicious!

Yes, it’s April Fool’s Day but rather than succumb to the annual tradition of tall stories, wind ups and pranks; we thought that we would mark the occasion by sharing a little known but genuine UK law that makes it an offence to handle a salmon while looking suspicious! Definitely, a worthy contender on any list of the weirdest UK laws but more amazingly, this law even has its own act as Section 32 of the Salmon Act 1986 covers in some detail the handling of salmon and other fish in suspicious circumstances. Although this offence may sound a bit fishy, it does make more sense when understanding the context of the law coming into play. The Salmon Act 1986 was aimed at people selling fish through illegal means, rather than people hanging around dark alleyways clutching a salmon. A five-hour House of Lords debate about the issue in February 1986 decided the wording would protect unwitting people from the then-in-place wider law of "possessing salmon which have been illegally taken, killed or landed". We may not know much about the correct handling of fish but through our expert support of the Scottish salmon farming community over many years, we do know a thing or two about providing specialist air products and solutions for Aquaculture applications. A range of reliable KAESER air products are specifically designed and built to provide maximum durability in Aquaculture environments and ensure maximum process reliability to minimise the risk of downtime. Kerr Compressor Engineers is the sole Scottish Authorised Distributor of KAESER HPC air products and an established, experienced supplier to the Aquaculture community throughout Scotland. If fishing or salmon farming is not your thing, you may instead prefer to familiarise yourself with another unusual UK law - sub-section 3 of section 54 in the Metropolitan Police Act 1839. This section covers any ‘mischief, misbehaviour and negligence’ in driving a herd of cattle through town! For futher information and advice on specialised Aquaculture products and solutions, please contact our friendly team of experts on 0800 008 6588 - web.enquiry@kerrcompressors.co.uk Alternatively, you can read more about our Aquaculture Applications & Solutions here or visit our Kerr ‘Know How’ blog section to read our article titled ‘Specialised Aquaculture Applications Require Specialised Products & Solutions’
References: Source & Credit: Many thanks to Dominic Dennis of Britton & Time Solicitors for kindly allowing Kerr to repurpose and share content from one of his Insight blog posts Kerr LinkedIn page
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