§ Lord Mason of Barnsleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
To what extent the operations of the fishery protection services have controlled the illegal trawling for salmon off the north-west coast of Scotland, and whether any more arrests have been made.
§ The Minister of State, Scottish Office (Lord Sanderson of Bowden)We have gained the impression from contacts in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as well as the UK that patrolling and aerial surveillance had and continue to have a significant deterrent effect on illegal activity off north west Scotland. There have been no arrests so far this year but a high level of enforcement presence is being maintained and already a number of illegally set nets have been lifted off the west of Scotland.