Mr. Wm Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in view of the fact that Paragraph 8 of the Foyle Fisheries Commission, Foyle Area (River Roe) Angling Regulations 1974 is not enforceable in any real sense, if he will seek its repeal.
§ Mr. DunnIf the regulations referred to are those of 1971, this prohibition now appears in the Foyle Area (Angling) Regulations 1977. I therefore will not accept that this prohibition is not enforceable.
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the differences between the regulations governing angling on the River Roe and 98W Faughan and those on the rest of the Foyle system; and why such differences exist.
§ Mr. DunnThe following regulations apply only to the Rivers Roe and Faughan in the Foyle Area: (a) for fly fishing the breaking strain of the cast may not exceed 8 lb. for night fishing and 15 lb. for fishing at other times and no more than two single dressed fly hooks of normal weight spaced at least two feet apart may be used; (b) for bait fishing the gape of the hook may not exceed 9 millimetres, the breaking strain of the line may not exceed 10 lb. and the maximum length of the rod may not exceed 9 feet, and this method may not be used for night fishing, (c) for spinning or threadlining the gape of the hook may not exceed 7 millimetres, the breaking strain of the line may not exceed 10 lb. and the maximum length of the rod may not exceed 9 feet, and this method may not be used for night fishing.
These differences were introduced into the Foyle Area (Angling) Regulation 1977 on the suggestion of local angling associations to prevent illegal snatching.
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he is satisfied with the accuracy of the fish counter on the River Faughan; and what experiments are carried out to test the accuracy of the count.
§ Mr. DunnYes. Various methods can be used to test the accuracy of the count, but the one mainly practised by the Foyle Fisheries Commission is to draw a fish periodically through the counter and check that it is recorded.
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many recommendations of the report on the Foyle area entitled "The Foyle Fisheries: New Base for Rational Management" have been put into operation; and how many are outstanding.
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list paragraphs of the Foyle Fisheries Commission, Foyle Area (River Roe) Angling 99W Regulation 1974 in operation during 1977, and those not in operation.
§ Mr. DunnIf the regulations referred to are the Foyle Area (Rivers Faughan and Roe Angling) Regulations 1971, all these regulations, except Regulation 9, have been incorporated into the Foyle Area (Angling) Regulations 1977 and are currently in operation.