§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate(a) the number of salmon available for sale in the United Kingdom in (i) 1970, (ii) 1980 and (iii) 1989 and (b) for each of those years, what percentage of salmon were (i) river caught, (ii) caught in offshore waters and (iii) from fish farms.
§ Mr. CurryThe information requested is not available in the level of detail sought. The total amount of salmon available for sale in the United Kingdom comprises wild, farmed and imported fish of a variety of species—Atlantic, Pacific, and so on. It is not possible to estimate reliably how much of the total domestic—Atlantic—catch may be offered for sale; further, records of imported salmon are not subdivided by number or species.
Comprehensive statistics of wild Atlantic salmon reported as caught by rod, net and trap are published annually by the Fisheries Departments and copies are available in the Libraries of the House. From these it is possible to provide an estimate of the inland and coastal catches of Atlantic salmon. These are:
Inland (tonnes) Coastal 1970 1,191 968 1980 934 684 11989 817 555 1 provisional figure Figures for estimated United Kingdom farmed Atlantic salmon production are:
(tonnes) 1970 nil 1980 600 1989 29,000 Figures for the total United Kingdom imports of fresh, chilled and frozen salmon—all species—are:
(tonnes) 1970 4,700 1980 5,112 11989 7,095 1 provisional figure