§ Mr. Grimondasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many salmon were taken in the Scottish rivers annually in the last five years; and to what extent the stocks of salmon are being depleted by either netting by inshore fishermen or grey seals.
§ Mr. NobleThe numbers of salmon and grilse caught in Scottish rivers and in coastal nets in the years 1958 to 1962 are as follows:
Year Total Salmon and Grilse 1958 … … … 427,523 1959 … … … 386,266 1960 … … … 386,484 1961 … … … 336,144 1962 … … … 473,345 In addition it is estimated that 28,000 salmon and grilse were caught by drift net off Scotland and the Tweed in 1961 and 115,000 in 1962.
Salmon stocks which cannot usually be directly measured are known to be subject to wide annual fluctuations on account of a number of variable factors such as the physical conditions of the environment and the food available at different stages of the salmon's life cycle in fresh water and in the sea and also to the toll taken by man and other animals. In the present state of knowledge it is not possible to assess the effects of the different factors.