MR. PHILIPPS (Pembroke)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that, although a bylaw abolishing a, not called the "shot fawr," or great draught, which was used by the seine fishermen for catching salmon at the mouth of the River Teify, in the Teify Fishery District, was, after inquiry in the year 1895, approved by the Board of Trade on the ground that, in the opinion of the Chief Inspector of Fisheries, the facilities for taking salmon in the Teify should be restricted because of the deteriorated state of the fisheries, owing to over-capture in all parts of the district, and although a by-law was subsequently approved abolishing the ancient right of coracles to fish in combination on the same ground, the salmon fisheries of the Teify have further greatly deteriorated since the passing of these by-laws; will he explain why, notwithstanding this deterioration brought about, according to the report of the Chief Inspector of Fisheries, by over-capture in all parts of the district, thy Board of Trade, in the month of December last, sanctioned a by-law extending the fishing season for salmon rods to the first day of November, two months after the commencement 866 of the close season for the seine and coracle nets; and whether he will make further inquiry into the matter?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADEThe Returns of the Conservators show that the yield of the river for the year 1896 was below the average, whilst that for 1897 was about the average. This does not bear out the statement that since the by-laws regulating net fishing were approved the salmon fisheries of the Teify have further greatly deteriorated. I need scarcely point out to the honourable Member that more than two years are necessary to enable any salmon river which may have been over-fished to recover. In the month of December last the Board of Trade approved a by-law making the close time for rods the same as that specified in the Statute, the close season for nets being also the same as that specified in the Statute.