§ Mr. Masonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many illegal fishing nets have been discovered on the salmon and trout rivers during each of the past five years; how many offences under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Acts involving salmon poaching have been dealt with by the courts in the last 12 months; if he will list the offences concerned and the penalties imposed; in how many cases the penalty imposed was the maximum offence; and what proposals he has to check the illegal netting of salmon in the rivers of Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Adam Butler[pursuant to his reply, 29 June 1982, c. 290]: These are matters for the Fisheries Conservancy Board for Northern Ireland and the Foyle Fisheries Commission, the two statutory bodies responsible for salmon and trout conservation in Northern Ireland. Details of prosecutions and seizures of equipment are given in the annual reports of both bodies. To extract the information as requested would involve a disproportionate amount of time.
I have no further proposals to combat illegal salmon netting in Northern Ireland rivers; these are matters for the two statutory bodies concerned.