§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland why he has decided to replace the current arrangement of chartering an aircraft for fisheries patrols with a contract for operating another aircraft that his Department has acquired for this purpose.
§ Mr. John MacKayBefore implementing the Government decision to replace RAF Nimrods on fisheries surveillance by civilian aircraft an appraisal was undertaken to decide on the appropriate aircraft. Pending the outcome of those deliberations an interim solution, making substantial savings on the cost of Nimrod, was implemented using a Dornier 228. The longer term appraisal was completed in the autumn 1986 and it indicated that a Fokker F27–200 should be acquired for the task.
§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what price is being paid by his Department for the acquisition of a Fokker F27–200 aircraft for fisheries patrols; and from what source it is being purchased.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe Fokker F27–200 is being acquired from Nordic Oil Services Ltd, Edinburgh airport, at a cost of just under £3 million.
§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate the cost to his department of the new arrangements for airborne fisheries patrols under the following headings: (a) depreciation and interest charges on the aircraft and radar equipment, respectively, (b) the costs of operating, and fuelling the aircraft and (c) costs of repairs and maintenance to the aircraft and the radar equipment, respectively.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe aircraft, including radar, will be depreciated in equal instalments of around £230,000 per annum over 10 years to an estimated residual value of £700,000. No interest charges apply in this transaction. It would not be appropriate to provide the estimated costs of operating and fuelling the aircraft nor the estimated costs of repairs and maintenance of aircraft and radar whilst the tenders regarding the operation are being evaluated and whilst discussions regarding a maintenance contract are at a critical stage.
§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give a description of the Fokker F27–200 aircraft that he is acquiring for fisheries patrols including its age, any protective treatment to prevent corrosion when flying at low levels over the sea, its range and any other factors relevant to the use for this purpose.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe Fokker F27–200 was in scheduled airline service with Air UK until early 1987. It was built in October 1959 and has a remaining life of over 21,500 cycles (a cycle is from a take-off to a landing). It is anticipated that some 400 cycles per annum will be undertaken by the aircraft on fisheries surveillance. The aircraft is at present undergoing a major maintenance check during which time it will be extensively protected against corrosion. The endurance of the aircraft will be enhanced by the addition of pylon tanks and extra wing tanks, resulting in a total endurance of some 10½ hours. The aircraft will he fitted with Litton LTN 72R inertial navigation system and Litton LTN 211 VLF/Omega.
Mr. Home Robertson asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what radar equipment he proposes to install in 303W the aircraft that he is acquiring for fisheries patrols; and how this equipment compares with the radar system used under the previous charter contract in terms of purchase and operating costs, suitability for detection of fishing vessels and suitability for detection of submarines.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe aircraft will be equipped with the Edinburgh-built Ferranti Seaspray mark III surveillance radar and will thus have the advantage of local maintenance back-up. The radar installed on the charter aircraft currently in use, is the US-built Bendix 1500. The technical assessment made by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland indicated that the more sophisticated Ferranti radar will have a better detection rate of fishing vessels in all sea states. The suitability or otherwise of the equipment to detect submarines was not a feature of the radar evaluation.
§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of alleged illegal fishing have been reported by his Department's airborne fisheries patrols since 1 September 1986; how many of those reports have been investigated; and how many prosecutions have been made as a result of those investigations.
§ Mr. John MacKayAirborne fisheries patrols have reported six cases of alleged infringements, all of which have been investigated. One case is being considered for submission to the procurator fiscal and details of another case (involving a Dutch vessel) have been supplied to the Dutch authorities for them to consider legal action. In the remaining cases no further action is proposed.