§ Lord Moranasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many licences to fish by drift net for salmon and sea trout were issued in 1992 in each of the National Rivers Authority's 10 regions; and what were the total recorded catches of salmon and sea trout by drift net in each of those regions in the last three years.
The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Earl Howe)Responsibility for licensing fishing for salmon and migratory trout rests with the National Rivers Authority. Information on the number of licences the authority issued in each of its 10 regions in 1992, entitling holders to fish by drift net for salmon and migratory trout, is given in Table 1 below.
The total recorded catches of salmon and sea trout by drift net in each of the ten regions in each of the years 1989 to 1991 are given in Table 2 below.
89WA
Table 1 Number of licences issued by the NRA in 1992 which entitled holders to fish by drift net NRA Region Number Northumbria 1121 Yorkshire 21 Anglian 2129 Thames Nil Southern Nil Wessex Nil South West 7
NRA Region Number Severn Trent Nil Welsh 334 North West 20
Table 2 Catches of salmon and migratory trout by drift net by NRA region: 1989–91 Salmon Sea trout NRA region 1989 1990 31991 1989 1990 31991 Northumbria 31,328 40,496 20,098 28,801 19,951 17,989 Yorkshire 4,908 7,723 2,365 6,007 5,873 4,070 Anglian (Catches not available by method of capture) Thames — — — — — — Southern — — — — — — Wessex — — — — — — South West1 — — — — — — Severn Trent — — — — — — Welsh2 2,468 2,344 1,578 2,070 1,726 1,202 North West 3,602 2,123 41,873 217 238 4312 Total 42,306 52,686 25,914 37,095 27,788 23,573 1 No drift netting took place in these years. 2 Welsh data include drift, trammel, sling and coracle nets. 3 Provisional data. 4 Data for North West region in 1991 include catches by the Cumbrian Esk fishing baulk (fixed engine) which are excluded from figures for the previous years.