§ Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland further to his reply to the hon. Member for Londonderry of 19 June 1981 (1) whether the 70 per cent. of the area of the Foyle Fisheries Commission which is in Northern Ireland refers to the land area only; and what the percentage would be if the sea area, including Lough Foyle, were taken into account;
(2) how many square miles covered by the Foyle Fisheries Commission are (a) on land and (b) covered by sea and estuary waters; and in each case how many square miles are (i) in the Republic of Ireland and (ii) in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Adam ButlerThe figure of approximately 70 per cent. given in my reply of 19 June to the hon. Gentleman included only the land area within the Foyle Fisheries Commission's area of responsibility.
The land area, which is based on the catchment area of the Foyle system, is as follows: 563W
square miles (i) Republic of Ireland 464 (ii) United Kingdom 1081 Total 1545 The seaward extent of the commission's area of responsibility is not defined, nor is the interstate offshore boundary, and it is not therefore possible to calculate the area covered by sea and estuary waters.—[Vol. 6, c. 473].