Salmon (Hansard, 22 October 1991)

§ Mr. Maclennan
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what study he has made of the impact of drift net fishing in Irish waters on stocks of salmon in Scotland.

§ Mr. Michael Forsyth
Tagging of salmon smolts, and data on retrieval of tags in fisheries, is co-ordinated by the 657W International Council for Exploration of the Sea. The data are not sufficiently detailed to give an assessment of the impact of Irish fisheries on Scottish catches or stocks of salmon.

§ Mr. Maclennan
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what study he has made of the impact of driftnet fishing in British waters on stocks of salmon in Scotland.

§ Mr. Michael Forsyth
Drift netting for salmon has been prohibited in Scottish waters since 1962. An assessment of the impact of the drift-net fishery off the north-east coast of England on Scottish east coast fisheries is contained in the report "Salmon Net Fisheries" laid before the House on 17 October. Copies are available in the Library.

§ Mr. Maclennan
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has received about the catches of salmon in fresh water fisheries in 1991 and each of the preceding five years.

§ Mr. Michael Forsyth
The reported catches of salmon for years up to and including 1990 are given, by statistical region and method of catch, in the Department's annual Statistical Bulletin "Salmon and Sea Trout Catches". Copies of these are in the Library. The fishing season for 1991 has not yet closed in all Scottish salmon fishery districts. The reported catches for 1991 will be published next year. Informal indications so far are that net catches have been lower than in 1990 and rod-and-line catches of salmon have been poor also. There are reports, however, of better catches at the end of the season in some regions.

§ Mr. Maclennan
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what study he has made of the impact of drift net fishing in the waters off Greenland and the Faroes on stocks of salmon in Scotland.

§ Mr. Michael Forsyth
The Faroes salmon fishery is a long-line rather than drift-net fishery. Quotas for this fishery and the west Greenland fishery are regulated by the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) on the basis of scientific assessments carried out by the ICES working group on north Atlantic salmon in which the Department's scientists take part. There are many factors which may affect survival at sea and return by salmon to rivers of origin. There are insufficient data to estimate the impact of high seas catches on stocks of individual European countries.

§ Mr. Maclennan
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what research is currently being undertaken into salmon stocks in Scotland.

§ Mr. Michael Forsyth
Scientists at the Department's freshwater fisheries laboratory at Pitlochry and marine laboratory at Aberdeen undertake a wide range of research on salmon. Details are given in the laboratorys' annual reports—copies of which are placed in the Library. I will send the hon. Member a list of current projects.

§ Mr. Maclennan
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has received about salmon stocks in Scottish coastal waters in 1991 and each of the preceding five years.

§ Mr. Michael Forsyth
It is not possible to assess directly the stocks of salmon reaching or migrating through Scottish coastal waters. The only currently available data658W on stocks are for rivers which are monitored by fish traps or counters or, indirectly, by juvenile surveys. Data and analysis of such studies for east coast river systems of Scotland are given in the report "Salmon Net Fisheries". This was laid before Parliament on 17 October and copies are available in the Library.

§ Mr. Maclennan
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what study he has made of the impact of the industrial fishing of sandeels off Scottish coasts on salmon stocks.

§ Mr. Michael Forsyth
The Department's fishery scientists carry out assessments of the state of sandeel stocks and studies on the diet of fish including salmon. No evidence has emerged of a correlation between abundance of sandeels and survival of salmon at sea. The main feeding grounds of salmon are known to be in the north atlantic around Greenland.