§ Mr. William Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will now detail the work carried out to determine the damage done to fish and other aquatic life in the river Roe and river Owenreagh as a result of the chemical spillage at the Caugh hill water treatment works in 1982; when full details, including counts of fish and other aquatic life, will be made available and the cost of 444W new stocking and the type of fish used to restock and the number of fish of each type and age group to the latest available date.
§ Mr. ButlerAn extensive electro-fishing survey was jointly undertaken by the Department of Agriculture and the Foyle Fisheries Commission to determine the extent of the damage to fish stocks following the accidental chemical spillage from Caugh hill water treatment works. The results of this exercise were made available to the river Roe re-stocking programme steering committee, which is representative of the various fishery interests in the riser. A further electro-fishing survey, on which the next round of re-stocking will be based, has recently been completed and the results will be considered by the steering committee in the near future. A biological survey was also carried out immediately following the incident and this will be repeated in the incoming year.
Such further surveys as are required to monitor and enhance the recovery of the ecosystem will be undertaken.
The following fish stocks have been placed in the rivers Roe and Owenreagh since January 1983:
Number Salmon Eyed Ova 118,000 Under 1-year-old 56,300 Over 1-year-old 30,000 Brown trout Under 1-year-old 20,000 Over 2-years-old 400 The cost of re-stocking to date has been £41,480.