§ Mr. Onslowasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action his Department has taken since 1979 to counter the threat to salmon stocks from (a) illegal netting, (b) predation, (c) pollution, (d) water abstraction, and (e) from poaching, respectively; and what action his Department takes to monitor salmon stocks.
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§ Mr. MacGregorIn England and Wales responsibility for the control, maintenance and development of salmon fisheries is vested in the water authorities by the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975. Since 1979 we have confirmed many byelaws and orders made by English water authorities to control salmon fishing and protect salmon stocks.
Our consultation paper on the review of inland and coastal fisheries in England and Wales published in 1981 recognised illegal netting and poaching as a major problem and reactions to that document indicated widespread support for some kind of salmon sales control scheme. We have carried out a very thorough review of the proposals by the salmon sales group of the National Water Council for a salmon tagging scheme and this has indicated some serious practical difficulties over the implementation of such a scheme, including control of imports, the handling of our own farmed salmon and the control of tags. These difficulties, together with other aspects of salmon sales control, are under urgent examination and I will make an announcement as soon as we have been able to reach conclusions.
In January this year my Department and the Welsh Office jointly issued a booklet entitled "Code of Good Agricultural Practice" designed both to minimise the risks of pollution from farming practices and to give guidance on good agricultural practice for the purposes of section 31(2)(c) of the Control of Pollution Act 1974. In 1984, following a joint working party on which my Department and the Department of the Environment were represented, the National Farmers Union issued two booklets for fish farmers advising on standards of good husbandry and safe use of chemicals. Following a visit I made with my right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Scottish Office, to the Solway area last year, a working party of the North West Water Authority and the Annan District Salmon Fisheries Board has been set up, with the co-operation of the Fisheries Departments, to examine whether joint arrangements can be worked out to control salmon fishing and reduce illegal netting in this area.
In 1981 the Government commissioned a study by the Natural Environment Research Council on the interaction between grey seals and fisheries. A report was published last year and the findings arre still being considered by the conservation and fisheries organisations directly concerned, including those with a particular interest in salmon. Last year the water authorities raised with us the possibility of a ban on fishing in times of drought. My officials are considering this possibility, but there is considerable doubt whether existing legislation provides the powers to implement bans at short notice. We shall be holding further discussions with the water authorities on this matter.
In order to monitor salmon stocks, my fisheries scientists collect and collate data supplied by the water authorities relating to both restocking and catching (by all means) of salmon. Data for 1983 will be published shortly in our Fisheries Laboratory Data Research series and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.