§ Mr. Maxwell-Hyslopasked the Prime Minister if she will give, for each of the last three years in (a) England and Wales and (b) Scotland, the number of sets of fishing gear confiscated by the courts for fishery offences which have been sold back to the convicted offenders, or other purchasers, presented in bands of £100 increments in sale price.
§ The Prime MinisterThe information available is given in the attached tables; the additional information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
TABLE 1 Sets of gear confiscated for fishing offences which are known to have been resold England and Wales* Scotland 1979 — 4 1980 — 2 1981 3 11 * In addition there were three cases in 1979, one in 1980 and four in 1981 where information on disposal was not readily available.
TABLE 2 Price of confiscated fishing gear on resale—Scotland Price (£) 1979* 1980* 1981 0 to 99 — — 1 100 to 199 1 — — 200 to 299 — — 3 300 to 399 1 — 3 400 to 499 — — 1 500 to 599 — — 1 600 to 699 — — 1 Over 700 — — 1† * In two additional instances the resale price was not known. † One net was sold for £1,500.