§ Mr. Mackintoshasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in view of the issuing of a limited number of licences permitting drift netting for salmon to fishermen operating from the Northumberland coast, he will consider issuing a similar regulated number of licences to fishermen living a few miles further north in Berwickshire and East Lothian.
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§ Mr. RossNo. The interim and final reports of the Hunter Committee explained the differences of law and practice affecting the Scottish and English fisheries. The Committee found that an unregulated drift net fishery could quickly deplete salmon stocks in some rivers and considered that none of the methods of regulation it examined, alone or in combination, would be a successful means of control. It recommended against allowing a limited drift net fishery under licence. The present prohibition on drift net fishing for salmon off the coast of Scotland and the Tweed maintains the position in these waters as it was before 1959 and I do not think it right to depart from it pending final decisions on the recommendations in the Committee's report.