§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many(a) salmon and (b) grilse were removed from the River Bush by his Department in each year since his Department first leased the fishery; what the sale of these fish realised in each year; and what effect their removal had on the number of smelts descending the river in subsequent years.
§ Mr. HanleySeparate figures for the number of salmon and grilse removed from the River Bush are not available. The available information is as follows:
Number and value of salmon and grilse removed from River Bush Year Number offish removed from river Number sold commercially Value £ Wild origin Hatchery origin £ 1972 Not available 1,917 6,536 1973 Not available 492 1,830 1974 Not available 226 685 1975 Not available 403 1,711 1976 Not available 377 2,345 1977 Not available 2,321 4,636 1978 Not available 219 1,889 1979 Not available 300 3,393 1980 Not available 839 5,178 1981 Not available 311 2,536 1982 Not available 32 246 1983 Not available — — 1984 195 20 3 33 1985 557 73 — —
Numbers of salmon and grilse landed by commercial fishermen in the Foyle Fisheries Commission area (both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) Type of engine 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 11992 Drift Nets 12,587 17,321 55,108 33,850 20,379 34,034 Draft Nets 5,434 16,176 31,090 10,199 5,437 8,223 Fixed Engines 47 79 330 371 — — Londonderry Fishery 415 763 — — — — Total 18,483 34,339 86,528 44,420 25,816 42,257 1 To date.
Total number of salmon and grilse landed by commercial fishermen in the Fisheries Conservancy Board area Type of engine 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 11992 Boxes and Fixed Estuary and Tidal Draft Nets 4,653 6,828 5,167 5,265 2,091 413 Tidal Draft Nets 69 114 74 12 2 32 Tidal Drift Nets 248 675 812 252 838 1,524 Tidal Bag Nets 5,924 6,140 12,197 4,685 4,582 5,957 Total 10,894 13,757 18,250 10.214 7,513 7,926 1 To date.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland over what period of year is there are available to him records of the numbers of salmon, grilse and sea trout caught in Northern Ireland waters; and where such records are available for inspection or purchase.
§ Mr. HanleyIn the Foyle Fisheries Commission area, records are available since 1960. The information may be inspected in the Commission's offices at 8 Victoria road, Londonderry BT47 2AB.
492W
Year Number offish removed from river Number sold commercially Value Wild origin Hatchery origin £ 1986 101 778 — — 1987 81 674 — — 1988 10 990 — — 1989 102 309 — — 1990 93 413 — — 1991 329 1,060 — — 1992 212 701 153 188 1 Grilse of hatchery origin which, after scientific examination, were found to be of marketable quality.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many salmon and grilse have been taken by commercial nets of each type, in Northern Ireland waters in each of the last five years and the current year to date; how many such fish taken by commercial fishermen, and sea netted fish, were landed in(a) Northern Ireland and (b) the Irish Republic; and of all fish taken, how many were taken from the Foyle system.
§ Mr. HanleyThe following tables give the available information. No figures are available for landings in the Republic of Ireland, except that for statistical purposes, half of what is taken in the Foyle Fisheries Commission area is assumed to have been landed in Northern Ireland and half in the Republic of Ireland.
In the Fisheries Conservancy Board area records exist from 1968 and may be inspected at the offices of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries Division, Hut 5, Castle Grounds, Stormont, Belfast BT4 3PW.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what investigations he has carried out to determine the number and percentage of salmon and grilse entering each of the(a) Foyle river system, (b) the Bush system and (c) other rivers in Northern Ireland which support runs of such fish are (i) one sea winter fish, (ii) two sea winter fish and (iii) three or more sea winter fish.
493W
§ Mr. HanleyThe only investigations of this type are carried out on the River Bush, and the fish are divided into two classes—grilse which are one sea winter fish; and salmon which are two or more sea winter fish. Examination of samples of fish from the River Bush over the last 10 years indicates the following proportions of salmon to grilse:
Smolt year Per cent, returning to river as: Class Grilse Salmon 1980 90 10 1981 91 9 1982 90 10 1983 1 1 1984 81 19 1985 80 20 1986 83 17 1987 96 4 1988 82 18 1989 87 13 1 Incomplete due to electric barrier breakdown.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Department of Agriculture's original lease for the angling on the River Bush began; when it was renewed; when the lease ends; and if he will publish a list of the papers and reports published, and where they may be purchased or examined, of the work on this fishery carried out by the Department.
§ Mr. HanleyThe lease began on 1 March 1972, for a period of 30 years and is therefore not due for renewal until 1 March 2003.
A list of publications is as follows. These are available for examination at the DANI Fisheries research laboratory, 38 Castleroe road, Coleraine.
CROZIER, W. W. 1986. Enhancement of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salarL.) in the River Bush. Royal Irish Academy, National Committee for Biology, Hydrobiology Sub-Committee, Annual Conference of the Freshwater Research Group, Dublin 25–26 March 1986.
CROZIER, W. W. 1988. Difference in the proportion of microtagged and finclipped Atlantic salmon released from and returned to the R. Bush, N. Ireland. ICES C. M. 1988/M:5 (mimeo).
CROZIER, W. W. 1989. Homewater exploitation rates on microtagged salmon returning to the R. Bush in 1988. ICES C. M.1989/M2 (mimeo).
CROZIER, W. W. 1990. DANI Freshwater and Environmental Research. The Ulster Angler, 10: 5–6.
CROZIER, W. W. 1990. Report on the Workshop on the effects of Restocking and Cage Escapees on Resident. Wild Salmon Stocks, held at Sherkin Island Marine Station, Cork, 23–25 May 1990. Sherkin Comment, 5 (1990).
CROZIER, W. W. 1990. The effects of restocking and cage escapees on resident wild salmon stocks. Ecological concerns. Paper at Conference on the Effects of Restocking and Cage Escapees on Resident Wild Salmon Stocks. Sherkin Island Marine Station, Cork, 23–26 May 1990.
CROZIER, W. W. 1990. Electrofishing and Stock Assessment. Paper at the Institute of Fisheries Management (NI Branch) Training Course at Movanagher Fish Farm.30 March 1990.
CROZIER, W. W. 1990. Homewater exploitation rates on microtagged salmon returning to the R. Bush in 1989. ICES C.M. 1990/M:19 (mimeo).
CROZIER, W. W. 1991. The identification of fish farm escapees in N. Ireland fisheries. Methods currently in use and future development of techniques. ICES Workshop on Identification of Fish Farm Escapees and Wild Salmon, Norway, ICES C.M. 1991/M:3 (mimeo).
CROZIER, W. W. 1991. Homewater exploitation on microtagged salmon returning to the R. Bush in 1990. ICES C.M. 1991/M:20 (mimeo).
494WCROZIER, W. W. and KENNEDY G. J. A. 1987. Marine survival and exploitation of R. Bush hatchery salmon (Salmo salar L.) as assessed by microtag returns to 1986. ICES C.M. 1097/M:39 (mimeo).
CROZIER, W. W. and KENNEDY G. J. A. 1988. Marine survival and homewater exploitation of R. Bush wild and hatchery-reared salmon (Salmo salar L.) derived from microtag returns in 1987. ICES C.M. 1988/M:4 (mimeo).
CROZIER, W. W. and KENNEDY G. J. A. 1989. The River Bush as an index river. ICES C.M. 1989/M:3 (mimeo).
CROZIER, W.W. and KENNEDY, G. J. A. 1991. What proportion of stocks are caught by commercial fisheries: Exploitation of R. Bush salmon. Working paper for the Joint Atlantic Salmon Trust' Royal Irish Academy Workshop on "The Measurement and Evaluation of the Exploitation of Atlantic Salmon". Dublin April 8–10, 1991.
CROZIER, W. W. and KENNEDY, G. J. A. 1991. Salmon research on the R. Bush. In: Steer, M. W. (ed) 1991 Irish Rivers: Biology and Management, pp 29–46 Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
CROZIER, W. W. and MOFFETT, I. J. J. 1989. Amount and distribution of biochemical-genetic variation among wild populations and a hatchery stock of Atlantic salmon Sulmo salar L., from north-east Ireland. Journal of Fish Biology, 34:665–677.
CROZIER, W. W. and MOFFETT, I. J. J. 1990. Inheritance of allozymes in Atlantic Salmon (Sahno salar L.) Aquaculture, 88: 253–262.
CROZIER, W. W. and MOFFETT, I. J. J. 1991. Application of genetic marking to assess supplementary stockings of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in a Northern Ireland stream. Poster paper at the Fisheries Society of the British Isles Symposium on Biochemical Genetics and Taxonomy of Fish, Queen's University, Belfast, 22–26 July 1991.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. (1981a). The reliability of quantitative juvenile salmon estimates using electro-fishing techniques. Proc. Atlantic Sal. Trust Workshop, Windermere, 1981, 11pp.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. (1981b). Some observations on the inter-relationships of juvenile salmon (Salmo salarL.) and trout (Salmo trutta L.). Proc. 2nd Brit. Freshw. Fish. Conf. 1981, 143–149.
KENNEDY G. J. A. (1983). Some observations on Salmonid ecology in upland streams. Series (a), No. 23, 20–23. Irish Fisheries Investigations.
KENNEDY G. J. A. (1984a). Factors affecting the survival and distribution of salmon (Salmo salar L.) stocked in upland trout (Salmo trutta L.) streams in Northern Ireland. Symposium on Stock Enhancement in the Management of Freshwater Fisheries, EIFAC, Budapest 1982, EIFAC Tech. Pap. (42), Suppl. Vol. I, 227–242.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. (1984b). Evaluation of techniques for classifying habitats for juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Atlantic Salmon Trust Workshop on Stock Enhancement. University of Surrey, 9–11 April, 1984, 23p.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. (1984b). The ecology of salrnonid habitat re-instatement following river drainage schemes. Institute of Fisheries Management (N.I. Branch) Study Course, Publ. Institute of Continuing Education, University of Ulster, 1–13.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. (1985). River pollution—How much does it cost fisheries? DANI Advisers and Lecturers Conference, Loughry College of Agriculture and Food Technology, 14 pp.
KENNEDY G. J. A. (1986). Silage effluent pollution—costs and prevention. Agriculture in Northern Ireland, Vol. 60 (12), 402–406.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. (1987). Predation by cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo L.) on wild and hatchery salmon smolts (Salmo salar L.). ICES C. M. 1987/M41.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. 1988. Stock enhancement of Atlantic salmon. In: Atlantic Sahnon: Planning for the Future. (Eds D. Mills and D. Piggins). Proceedings of the Third International Atlantic Salmon Symposium, Biarritz, France, 21–23 October 1986, 345–372.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and CROZIER, W. W. 1988. Scientifically based approaches to management in the context of existing fisheries: Use of the R. Bush as an index river to provide input data for modelling. ICES C. M. 1988/M:3 (mimeo).
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and CROZIER, W. W. 1989. Salmon enhancement on the River Bush. Proceedings of the Institute 495W of Fisheries Management, 20th Annual Study Course at Galway Regional Technical College, Galway, 12–14 September 1989.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and CROZIER, W. W. 1991. Stock-recruitment data from the River Bush. Working paper for the Joint Atlantic Salmon Trust' Royal Irish Academy Workshop on "The Measurement and Evaluation of the Exploitation of Atlantic Salmon", Dublin, April 8–10, 1991.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and CROZIER, W. W. 1991. Strategies for the rehabilitation of salmon rivers: post-project appraisal. In: Mills, D. (ed) 1991. Strategies for the rehabilitation of salmon rivers. pp 46–62. Atlantic Salmon Trust, The Institute of Fisheries Management, and the Linnean Society of London.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and CROZIER, W. W. 1991. Juvenile Atlantic Salmon-Production and Prediction. International Symposium on the Production of Juvenile Atlantic Salmon in Natural Waters, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, St. John's Newfoundland, Canada, 25–27 June, 1991.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and J. E. GREER 1988. Predation by cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo L.) on the salmonid populations of an Irish river. Aquaculture and Fisheries Management, 19: 159–170.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and P. M. JOHNSTON, 1986. A review of salmon (Salmo salar L.) research on the River Bush. Proceedings of the Institute of Fisheries Management 17th Annual Study Course. University of Ulster, 9–11 September 1986. 49–69.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and STRANGE, C. D. (1980). Population changes after two years of salmon (Salmo salar L.) stocking in upland trout (Salmo trutta L.) streams. J. Fish. Biol. 17, 577–586.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and STRANGE, C. D. (1981a). Comparative survival from salmon (Salmo salar L.) stocking with eyed and green ova in an upland stream. Fish. Mgmt. 12, 43–48.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and STRANGE, C. D. (1981b). Efficiency of Electric Fishing for salmonids in relation to river width. Fish. Mgmt. 12, 55–60.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and STRANGE, C. D. (1982). The distribution of salmonids in upland streams in relation to depth and gradient. J. Fish. Biol. 20, 579–591.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and STRANGE, C. D. (1986). The effects of Intra and Inter-specific competition on the survival and growth of stocked juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and resident trout (Salmo trutta L.) in an upland stream. J. Fish. Biol. 28, 479–489.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and STRANGE, C. D. (1986a). The effects of Intra and Inter-specific competition on the distribution of stocked juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in relation to depth and gradient in an upland trout (Salmo trutta L.) stream. J. Fish. Biol. 29, 199–214.
KENNEDY, G. J. A., STRANGE, C. D. and JOHNSTON, P. M. 1991. Evaluation of Carlin tagging as a mark-recapture technique for estimating total river runs of salmon smolts, Salmo salar L. Aquaculture and Fisheries Management, 22: 363–368.
MOFFETT, I. J. J. and CROZIER, W. W. 1991. Genetic marker identification in Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.) by electrophoretic analysis of low risk tissues. Journal of Fish Biology, 39: 609–611.
STIRLING, J. and KENNEDY, G. J. A. 1987. Preliminary investigations on fin sizes in wild and ranched salmon as a discriminate factor in R. Bush stocks. ICES C. M. 1987/M40.
STRANGE, C. D. and KENNEDY, G. J. A. 1981. Stomach flushing of salmonids: A simple and effective technique for the removal of the stomach contents. Fisheries Management, 12: 9–15.
STRANGE, C. D. and KENNEDY, G. J. A. 1982. Evaluation of fluorescent pigment marking of brown trout (Salmi) trutta L.) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Fisheries Management 13:89–95.
Publications in press, submitted, or in preparation:
CROZIER, W. W. (in press). Maintenance of genetic variation in hatchery stocks of Atlantic salmon: Experiences from the R. Bush. Aquaculture and Fisheries Management.
CROZIER, W. W. and KENNEDY, G. J. A. (in press). Marine survival of wild and hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon from the 496W R. Bush, Northern Ireland. 4th International Atlantic Salmon Symposium, St. Andrews, Canada. Blackwell Scientific Publications.
CROZIER, W. W. and KENNEDY, G. J. A. (in prep). Marine exploitation of Atlantic salmon from the R. Bush, Northern Ireland. Fisheries Research.
CROZIER, W. W. and MOFFATT, I. J. J. (submitted). Application of genetic marking to assess supplementary stocking of Atlantic salmon in a Northern Irish stream. Journal of Fish Biology.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. (in prep). Evaluation of production from nursery habitat in the British Isles. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy.
KENNEDY, G. J. A. and CROZIER, W. W. (in prep). River management in relation to salmonid recruitment. National Rivers Authority Conference, University of Leicester, 1993.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what evidence he has that(a) increasing numbers, (b) an increasing percentage of salmon and grilse are entering the (i) Foyle system, (ii) the Bush system and (iii) other rivers in Northern Ireland which support runs of these fish.
§ Mr. HanleyRecords of the numbers of wild salmon entering rivers are available only for the Mourne system, River Faughan and River Bush and are as follows. It is not possible to provide figures indicating the percentage of the total run.
Year Mourne system (Sion Mills) River Faughan (Campsie) River Bush 1973 n/a n/a 2,614 1974 n/a n/a 3,438 1975 n/a n/a 3,366 1976 2,259 2,040 3,124 1977 2,419 2,625 1,775 1978 5,057 2,587 1,621 1979 2,226 3,262 1,820 1980 3,146 3,288 2,863 1981 2,399 3,772 1,539 1982 4,755 2,909 1,571 1983 1,271 2,410 1,030 1984 1,877 2,116 1— 1985 8,149 9,077 2,443 1986 6,295 4,915 2,930 1987 2,322 1— 2,530 1988 7,171 3,220 2,832 1989 8,526 8,919 1,029 1990 11,899 6,883 1,850 1991 7,250 4,843 2,358 1 Incomplete due to electric barrier breakdown.