Fishing (Hansard, 11 June 1990)

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take action to prohibit the use of mobile fishing gear in sea lochs.

§ Mr. Lang
My noble Friend the Minister of State recently issued a consultation paper, "Additional Conservation Measures", in area VIA (West Coast of Scotland) in which views were sought on extending the current winter closure of the west coast sea lochs to a full year ban. The consultation period has now ended and responses are being considered.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what evidence he has of illegal fishing in the Minch.

§ Mr. Lang
The Minch is subject to regular surveillance by ships and aircraft of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland, as are all of the main fishing grounds off the Scottish coast. In 1989 a total of five infringements of fisheries regulations were detected.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his policy on industrial fishing in relation to(a) ammodytes marinus, (b) ammodytes tubianus, (c) ammodytes semiguaranatus, (d) hyperoplus lancealatus and (e) hyperoplus immaculatus.

§ Mr. Lang
The Government's policy in relation to fishing for(a) Ammodytes marinus, (b) Ammodytes tobianus, (c) Gymnammodytes semisquamatus, (d) 49W Hyperoplus lanceolatus and (e) Hyperoplus immac-culatus, commonly known as sand-eels, is the same as for other industrial species. Stocks are managed on the basis of scientific advice on the effect of fishing effort on stock size. The aim of such management is the sustainable long-term exploitation of the fishery resource.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will issue guidance to local authorities to make culverts under new roads cobble-bottomed to assist spawning fish to get upstream.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
The Scottish Development Department is currently considering design improvements for culverts which may assist the upstream passage of fish and is co-operating with the freshwater fisheries laboratory of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland in the assessment of a particular design. If the results of the trial prove satisfactory from both an engineering and fisheries point of view appropriate design guidance will be issued to roads' authorities.

§ Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will designate the northern Minch as a marine nature reserve.

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
It is for the Nature Conservancy Council, as the Government's statutory adviser, to propose any area for designation as a marine nature reserve (MNR). Two potential MNRs have been identified in Scotland by the Nature Conservancy Council using guidelines laid down in the joint NCC/NERC report entitled "Nature Conservation in the Marine Environment". The northern Minch is not one of those potential sites.