§ Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications for licences to kill cormorants were received in 1984; how many were issued; to whom the licences were issued; how many cormorants the licences allowed to be killed; how many cormorants were killed under licence in 1984; and if he will provide the same information for 1985 to date.
§ Mr. John MacKayTwenty-five applications were received and 25 licences were issued to owners and occupiers of inland salmon and freshwater fisheries and district salmon fishery boards in 1984 for the protection of salmon and trout fisheries. No limits were placed on the number of birds to be killed. A total of 886 cormorants were killed under licence.
In the current year 17 applications have been received and 16 licences have been issued. One application is still under consideration. Returns received to date indicate that 45 birds have been killed.
Licence applications are treated in confidence, so it would not be appropriate to list the names of the licensees.