Captain CRAIGasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he will instruct the Fisheries Board not to open Dundrum Bay, county Down, for trawling, and not to increase the present existing hours for trammel-net fishing, in view of the damage any alteration would inflict on the line-fishing industry carried on at Ardglass, Killough, Dundrum, Newcastle, Annalong, Kilkeel, and other smaller villages round the bay, where, in the majority of instances, such line fishing is the people's main means of livelihood; whether he can say if an influentially-signed petition was received against any alteration; if so, what reply was made by the Fisheries Board; how many cases of illegal trawling and net fishing inside the Bay of Dundrum 2324 have been reported in the past five years; and how many prosecutions instituted and the amount of fines imposed?
§ Mr. REDMOND BARRYI have no power to give any such instructions. The matters referred to were the subject of a statutory inquiry held yesterday, when, no doubt, the views of all concerned were heard. An appeal will lie to the Lord Lieutenant in Council against any by-law made as a result of the inquiry. A memorial against previous proposals of the Department was received and forwarded to the Lord Lieutenant in Council, and the memorialists were so informed. A large number of reports of illegal fishing in Dundrum Bay have been received, and the Department have instituted proceedings in twenty-three cases during the past five years, and fines amounting to £91 have been imposed.