HC Deb 09 May 1905 vol 145 cc1333-4
MR FIELD

To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he will cause inquiry to be made whether the alleged good supply of fish landed in Ireland is mainly obtained from steam trawlers; and whether he will cause a Return to be made of the quantity of fish obtained from deep-sea fishing as compared with that derived from inshore fishing.

(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) Statistics of fish landed on the Irish coast are collected and are published each year in the Annual Report of the fishery branch of the Department. The statistics also deal with the methods by which the various classes of fish are caught. In the Dublin Market, which is the principal one in Ireland, more fish are landed by steam trawlers than by sailing trawlers. In Galway Bay and Dingle, which are the other most important centres of trawling, all the fish are landed by sailing trawlers. With regard to deep-sea fishing in general, the quantity of mackerel landed by boats fishing in the deep sea is about equal to that caught close in shore by row boats. Herrings are caught to a greater extent in the inshore areas than by deep-sea fishing.