§ Mr. Onslowasked the Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the main threats to British salmon stocks, apart from illegal fishing, together with the measures his Department has taken, since 1979, to counter their effect.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 8 April 1986, c. 34]: As I said in reply to my hon. Friend's question of 24 March, at column 344, the measures taken to regulate salmon fisheries in British waters and to promote the conservation and development of salmon stocks have prevented the decline in stock experienced by some other countries. Apart from illegal fishing, problems can be caused by a range of factors, including river pollution, barriers to the passage of salmon up the rivers, predation of migrating salmon by other creatures and the level of interception by high seas fisheries.
In England and Wales responsibility for the regulation, maintenance and development of salmon fisheries is placed on 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, and have approved 21 fish passes to assist adult salmon migrating upstream.
The enforcement of river pollution legislation is also the responsibility of water authorities. Since 1979 the Government have introduced provisions in part II of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 which strengthen these arrangements. Reduced pollution has led to improved water quality and the re-establishment of salmon stocks in 131W a number of rivers. Moreover, in January 1985 my Department and the Welsh Office jointly issued the "Code of Good Agricultural Practice" designed both to minimise the risk of water pollution from farming practices and to give guidance on good agricultural practice for the purposes of section 31(2)(c) of the 1974 Act.
I am aware of no evidence that predation by birds represents at present a significant threat to salmon stocks in England and Wales. So far as predation by seals is concerned, I would refer my hon. Friend to the written reply I gave to him yesterday on that issue.
This Department participated in international negotiations which led to the establishment in 1981 of a salmon catch quota for the Faroese salmon fishery. Since then, further negotiations have secured reductions of this quota and also of the Greenland salmon catch quota. We supported the establishment of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation in 1984 and have worked for agreement in that forum on the limitation of high seas fisheries.
Wages Council Establishments Covered by Wages Councils on Register December 1985 Establishments checked Per cent of register checked Number of Establishments underpaying Per cent of Establishments underpaying Baking 277 91 32.9 11 12.1 Boot and Shoe Repairing 37 22 59.5 0 0.0 Catering 3,290 407 12.4 28 6.9 Clothing Manufacturing 130 53 40.8 1 1.9 Laundry 11 9 81.8 0 0.0 Linen and Cotton Handkerchief 48 15 31.3 0 0.0 Paper Box 13 3 23.1 0 0.0 Road Haulage 1,322 107 8.1 5 4.7 Sugar Confectionery and Food Preserving 32 5 15.6 0 0.0 Total 5,160 712 13.8 45 6.3
§ Mr. Nellistasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish for each year since 1979 information from the Wages Inspectorate broken down to show (a) the number of firms inspected and the number of workers whose pay was checked, showing those by visit and those by other method, (b) the number of firms found to be underpaying, (c) the number of workers underpaid, (d) the total arrears assessed and (e) the total arrears actually recovered.
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 Number of firms inspected n/a n/a 1,986 1,654 1,618 1,503 712 Number of workers whose pay was checked n/a n/a 12,917 12,122 12,059 9,091 9,716 Number of firms found to be underpaying 24 39 33 39 34 52 45 Number of workers underpaid 27 119 66 93 86 79 85 Total arrears assessed £606 £7,242 £7,885 £35,538 £14,361 £14,283 £26,750 Total arrears actually recovered £606 £7,242 £7,885 £35,538 £14,361 £14,283 £26,750
§ Mr. Nellistasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give a breakdown of Wages Inspectorate