§ Mr. Canavanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many protection orders have been (a) applied for and (b) granted under the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976; and if he will list in each case the mileage of waters, the names and addresses of the applicants, the permit prices, the times of access and any other restrictions.
§ Mr. John MacKayFormal proposals for protection orders have been submitted in respect of six areas. Protection orders have been granted in respect of four areas and were detailed in my reply to the hon. Member on 10 January. Proposals in respect of the River Tay and the Rivers Garnock, Irvine and Annick and other waters in west Strathclyde region have now progressed to the stage of formal consideration; proposals in respect of the former have been advertised and made available for public 521W inspection in terms of paragraph 1 of schedule 1 of the Freshwater and Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1976. Proposals in respect of the latter are likely to be advertised etc. in the very near future.
The numbers of proprietors and occupiers who submitted proposals for access are 67 in the case of the Tweed, 23 in the Upper Spey and so on, 29 in the River Tummel, 2 in the River Lunan, 107 in the River Tay and 18 in the Rivers Garnock, Irvine and Annick etc. This amounts to some 246 separate names and addresses and it would not be practicable to list them in this reply.
The mileage of water and costs of permits available for fishing are:
River Mileage Day Permits Weekly Permits Season Permits Tweed 426 Free-£3 Free-£6 Free-£10 Upper Spey 118 £2-£5 £5-£8 £12 Tummel 200 50p-£2 £2-£6 £5-£25 Lunan 18 £1-£2.50 n/a £5-£20 Tay 180 £1-£5 £4-£25 n/a Garnock Irvine etc. * £1-£3.50 £5-£10 £5-£14 * Not calculated. The permit prices in respect of the Upper Spey, Tay and Garnock, Irvine etc. are current; those in respect of the Tweed, Tummel and Lunan were the prices chargeable at the times of grafting or renewal of the protection orders. Any changes in prices are taken into account when renewals of orders are being considered. In each of the cases above, there are various reductions for old age pensioners and juveniles.
Restrictions on fishing vary in each case. For example there are some restrictions on methods used and night and Sunday fishing. The numbers of rods permitted at any one time on some fisheries is limited whilst in others unlimited access is offered. Bag limits on the numbers of trout caught in any one day are also applied on some fisheries.