§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table to show the salmon redd count in the River Bush and its tributaries for each of the last five years; what is his assessment as to the number of redds needed to maintain the present five-year average number of salmon and grilse entering the system; and what is his assessment as to the number of such fish the system could support and the number of redds necessary to attain that number.
§ Mr. HanleyThe information on salmon redd counts in the River Bush and its tributaries is published in the 145W annual reports of the Fisheries Conservancy Board for 1989, 1990, and 1991, copies of which are available in the Library.
The work on assessing the number of salmon redds required to maintain and support the system is still ongoing and the information requested is not available.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the total number of(a) salmon and (b) grilse taken by anglers in the River Bush in each of the past 10 years or as much of such information as is available to him.
Four-week period ending 30 September 28 October 25 November Number per cent. Number per cent. Number per cent. 1986 73 2.1 1,302 38.1 166 4.8 1987 628 21.4 225 7.6 83 2.8 1988 556 15.4 278 7.7 55 1.5 1989 251 21.7 206 17.8 25 2.2 1990 205 10.3 105 5.3 46 2.3 1991 119 3.8 1,072 34.5 134 4.3
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what costs have been incurred by the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland in each of the past five years and the current year in operating the River Bush angling fishery; what has been the total income from angling in those years; and where a detailed analysis of the costs and income is published by his Office.
§ Mr. HanleyOperational costs for the angling aspects of the Department's activities at the River Bush are not recorded separately.
Such information on angling income as is available relates only to the special angling stretches and is published in the annual reports on the sea and inland fisheries of Northern Ireland for 1987–91, copies of which are available in the Library.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table to show how many angling permits were issued for each stretch of the River Bush in the(a) 1989, (b) 1990, (c) 1991 and (d) 1992 angling seasons up to 30 September, what sums were
146W
Number of Salmon and Grilse caught by month in each stretch of the River Bush between 1989 and 1992 Year Stretch March April May June July August September October Total 1989 New 3 8 1 2 2 8 5 — 25 Town 4 8 2 3 2 21 17 — 57 Leap 0 1 1 3 9 40 51 — 105 Total 7 12 4 8 14 69 73 — 187 1990 New 0 0 3 6 21 2 3 — 35 Town 3 2 3 21 47 26 12 — 114 Leap 0 3 1 42 55 22 27 — 150 Total 3 5 7 69 123 50 42 — 299 1991 New 1 0 0 26 45 5 20 — 97 Town 0 2 1 44 23 1 42 — 113 Leap 0 1 0 28 62 18 64 — 173 Total 1 3 1 98 130 24 126 — 383 1992 New 0 1 5 17 49 8 4 4 88
§ Mr. HanleyThe available information is published in the annual reports of the Fisheries Conservancy Board for the years 1988–91 inclusive, copies of which are available in the Library.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what evidence he has that(a) increasing numbers and (b) an increasing percentage of salmon and grilse enter the River Bush in each of (i) September, (ii) October and (iii) November; and if he will publish the figures.
§ Mr. HanleyThe late runs of salmon and grilse into the River Bush over the past six years was as follows:
received for those permits each month; and how many salmon, grilse and sea trout were caught in each stretch in each month and in total, or as much of such information as is available to him at present.
§ Mr. HanleyThe number of angling permits sold for each stretch of the River Bush between 1989 and 1992 and the annual income received was as follows:
To 30 September Stretch 1989 1990 1991 1992 New 413 192 146 221 Town1 457 358 273.5 306.5 Leap1 511 658 548 590.5 Walk Mill — — — 61 Total 1,381 1,208 967.5 1,179 Income (£) 17,079 17,193 16,332 21,729 1 Half-day tickets are available on these stretches. Information on the number of salmon, grilse and sea trout caught is as follows:
147W
Year Stretch March April May June July August September October Total Town 9 10 6 6 20 14 21 14 100 Leap 0 5 6 1 72 24 20 16 144 Walk Mill 0 0 0 0 2 3 6 1 12 Total 9 16 17 24 143 49 51 35 344
Reported Sea Trout catches Year Number 1989 0 1990 0 1991 l 1992 2
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table to show the number of(a) salmon and (b) grilse entering the River
1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 January 0 0 0 0 0 1 February 3 0 0 0 3 3 March 11 14 10 2 8 17 April 41 14 5 17 21 46 May 29 8 19 17 20 49 June 242 68 32 378 300 39 July 1,098 1,339 122 670 1,056 915 August 549 1,116 458 536 336 689 September 628 645 258 207 119 542 October 227 278 218 111 1,106 — November 82 55 13 40 106 — December 31 56 23 10 28 — TOTAL 2,941 3,593 1,158 1,988 3,103 (2,301) Separate figures are not available for salmon and grilse.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table to show how many angling permits were issued for each stretch of the River Bush in the period 1 to 20 October, inclusive, during the current year: what sums were received for these permits; and how many salmon and grilse were caught in each stretch in that period, or as much as such information as is presently available to him.
§ Mr. HanleyThe information requested is as follows:
Stretch Number of tickets1 Income £ Catch2 New 17.0 502.00 4 Town3 20.5 811.95 14 Leap3 81.0 1,857.95 16 Walk Mill 13.0 99.55 1 Total 131.5 3,271.45 35 1 River Bush game fishery daily tickets. 2 Total number of salmon and grilse. 3 Half-day tickets are available on these stretches.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table to show his estimate of the number of salmon smolts descending the River Bush in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. HanleyEstimates of the number of wild Atlantic salmon smolts descending the River Bush in the years 1987–91 are as follows:
148WBush in each month of each of the past five years and the current year, indicating how many fish in each month were (i) one sea winter fish, (ii) two sea winter fish and (iii) three sea winter fish; and what correlation there was between each sea winter class, their weight and how many were classed as spring, summer, autumn and winter running fish.
§ Mr. HanleyThe number of salmon and grilse entering the River Bush system in each month for the years 1987 to 1991 was as follows:
Year Smolts 1987 22,156 1988 22,994 1989 17,812 1990 17,354 1991 18,471