§ Mr. GrahamTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many licences were applied for, and issued, under section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to permit the killing of(a) cormorant, (b) goosander and (c) red-breasted merganser in Scotland for each year since 1988, to prevent serious damage to fisheries.
§ Sir Hector Monro[holding answer 26 April 1993]: The information is as follows:
No application has been received to shoot mergansers in the Tweed catchment during this period.
§ Mr. GrahamTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what analysis has been carried out on the diet of(a) cormorants, (b) goosander and (c) red-breasted merganser killed under licence in (i) Scotland and (ii) the Tweed catchment; and what proportion of their diet was salmon; and what proportion was assessed to constitute serious damage to salmon fisheries.
§ Sir Hector Monro[holding answer 26 April 1993]: The Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department (SOAFD) commissioned research from the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE) in 1987. The programme has been extended to 1994 and is designed to investigate the predatory activities of sawbill ducks (goosanders and mergansers) and other piscivorous birds, and their impact on salmonid populations in Scottish rivers, including the River Tweed. A major element of the programme is an analysis of the gut of birds shot under licence to determine the nature of their diet. Results of this research programme are expected to be available in 1994.