§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice he has received from the National Rivers Authority on the likely effect of delaying the start of the salmon season for(a) net and (b) rod and line fisheries; what recommendations he has received; and what further advice he has sought on this matter from the authority. [16427]
§ Mr. BaldryIn 1994, the Government's salmon advisory committee published a report on the run timing of salmon which, among other things, recommended that consideration be given to the protection, and perhaps252W enhancement, of early running salmon, particularly in stocks where spring runs have suffered the most acute decline. Actions that it suggested might be appropriate included additional controls of exploitation in both commercial and sport fisheries. Following publication of the report, my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales, asked the National Rivers Authority to consider urgently whether, and if so what, action was needed to conserve the runs of spring run salmon in the fisheries for which it is responsible. In this context, he also asked the authority to reconsider the recommendation, in the report on salmon net fisheries presented to Parliament in 1991, that the opening date for the drift net fisheries of Northumbria and Yorkshire should be postponed until 1 May so as to reduce the level of exploitation of spring run salmon. Copies of the NRA's response to this request and my subsequent reply have been deposited in the Library of the House.