§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table in theOfficial Report to show (a) the commercial catch and (b) the rod catch of salmon in the Foyle system for each of the last 15 years, indicating for each year what percentage of the total catch was taken by rod fishermen, and the sums collected from (i) rod licences and (ii) commercial fishermens' licences.
§ Mr. Viggers[holding answer 12 July 1988]: The information requested for commercial and rod catches, the percentage of rod catches and the revenue from rod and commercial licences for the years 1973–87 is provided in the table. It must be borne in mind that very few rod anglers make returns, whereas all commercial fishermen are required to make returns.
258W
Foyle Fisheries Commission—Salmon catches plus licence revenue 1973 to 1987 Numbers of commercial caught salmon Numbers of rod caught salmon Percentage of catch taken by rod Commercial licence revenue (£) Rod licence revenue (£) 1973 61,7 1,018 1.6 12,661 6,718 95 1974 78,051 1,967 2.5 12,406 8,357 1975 54,904 792 1.4 12,431 9,268 1976 38,931 663 1.7 17,707 9,848 1977 39,258 886 2.3 17,739 12,770 1978 47,911 1,907 4.0 22,625 18,547 1979 37,003 966 2.6 21,740 20,262 1980 49,223 1,134 2.3 23,257 27,678 1981 34,781 1,517 4.4 25,232 28,916 1982 60,157 2,125 3.5 27,338 28,691 1983 83.252 831 1.0 32,763 29,800 1984 29,532 379 1.3 35,488 29,455 1985 40,521 1,814 4.5 36,314 38,942 1986 46,354 1,172 2.5 37,307 44,113 1987 18,483 390 2.1 35,750 47,907