§ David BurnsideTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the daily fish counts for(a) June and (b) July 2003 were at Sion Mills on the River Mourne in West Tyrone. [176883]
§ Mr. PearsonThe counts for June and July 2003 are detailed as follows:
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Date Fish count June 2003 1St 19 2nd 20 3rd 16 4th 7 5th 6 6th 5 7th 15 8th 20 9th 37 10th 16 11th 19 12th 46 13th 84 14th 185 15th 535 16th 904 17th 402 18th 105 19th 394 20th 494 21st 77 22nd 25 23rd 58 24th 51 25th 49
Date Fish count 26th 72 27th 618 28th 278 29th 175 30th 51 Total for June 2003 4,783 July 2003 1st 44 2nd 36 3rd 63 4th 1 5th 3 6th 6 7th 10 8th 9 9th 20 10th 43 11th 612 12th 681 13th 58 14th 24 15th 23 16th 31 17th 22 18th 95 19th 345 20th 171 21st 157 22nd 59 23rd 29 24th 42 25th 25 26th 29 27th 22 28th 38 29th 103 30th 6 31st 30 Total for July 2003 2,837
§ David BurnsideTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the daily river height for(a) June and (b) July 2003 was at Sion Mills on the River Mourne in West Tyrone. [176884]
§ Mr. PearsonThe Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Rivers Agency does not have a gauging station in Sion Mills and therefore actual data on river height has been obtained from the Agency's Drumnabuoy House River Flow Gauging Station on the River Mourne near Strabane, approximately 3 km downstream of the weir in Sion Mills. This records water levels at 15-minute intervals.
Recorded water levels in June and July 2003 were in the range 2.71 metres above Ordnance Datum (OD) Belfast on 16 July to 4.28 metres OD on 10 June. On 48 of the 61 days in question the levels were below the average daily level of 3.32 m OD for this section of the River (as measured over the last 21 years).
§ David BurnsideTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what progress has been made with regard to the buy-out of salmon net licences in the Foyle Estuary; and if he will make a statement; [176886]
(2) what reports he has received of plans for the buy-out of salmon net licences on the River Foyle; and if he will make a statement. [176885]
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§ Mr. PearsonThere are currently no plans to buy out salmon nets on the Foyle Estuary. The stocks of salmon returning to the Foyle catchment are managed effectively by the Loughs Agency to ensure that spawning escapement targets are achieved each year. The effectiveness of the conservation and protection regulations introduced by the Loughs Agency are continually kept under review using data collected from fish counters, population surveys and catch returns. The Loughs Agency manages the stocks with the objective of achieving maximum sustainable productivity, and has achieved adult returns in excess of conservation limits for the past number of years.