§ Captain W. Elliotasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what was the total weight of the catch of salmon for the waters of the British Isles as a whole, both sea and river, in the years 1961, 1964, 1967 and 1968;
(2) what was the total weight of the catch of salmon for Scottish and Northern Irish waters, both sea and river, for the years 1961, 1964, 1967 and 1968;
(3) what was the total weight of the catch of salmon for English and Welsh waters, both sea and river, for the years 1961, 1964, 1967 and 1968.
§ Mr. HoyCatches of salmon in British waters—sea and river—were:
Danish fishermen at Greenland for the years 1967 and 1968.
§ Mr. HoyThe Joint Working Party of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea and the International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, which is investigating this fishery, classifies catches according to whether they have been made in the inshore fishery—carried on, so far as we are aware, exclusively by the Greenlanders—or the offshore drift net fishery. The total catches by local fishermen in the former were 1,283 metric tons in 1967 and 579 metric tons in 1968. The share of Danish fishermen in the total offshore fishery was 85 metric tons in 1967 and 272 metric tons in 1968.
§ Captain W. Elliotasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to what extent his Department attributes the 201W decline in the numbers of salmon in British rivers to increased netting of salmon in and just outside rivers in Great Britain, increased pollution of rivers, spread of fish epizootics, and catching of salmon at Greenland, respectively.
§ Mr. HoyOn present information it is not possible to assess the extent to which fluctuations in salmon numbers are affected by particular factors.