§ Sir Cranley OnslowTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what criteria he intends to apply towards applications to control the number of cormorants threatening the viability of Stillwater fisheries in England, pending the findings of the research on fish-eating birds which he is commissioning.
§ Mrs. BrowningCormorants are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, as amended, although the Act does allow for the issuing of licences to permit the killing or taking of these birds in order to prevent serious damage to fisheries. Pending the findings of the research programme, MAFF, as a licensing authority, will continue to issue licences to shoot a limited number of birds as an aid to scaring where: there is evidence that serious damage is being or is likely to be caused to the fishery; other non-lethal anti-predation measures have been shown to be ineffective or impractical, and not just difficult to implement; and there are no other evident causes of the serious damage, and shooting will contribute to preventing any damage that might be being caused.
§ Sir Cranley OnslowTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the five sub-topics on which his Department, the Department of the Environment and the National Rivers Authority propose to commission research on fish-eating birds; what account will be taken in this research of information already publicly available in the United Kingdom and elsewhere; and for what reasons this project is expected to run for up to three years.
§ Mrs. BrowningA copy of the specifications for the five research projects currently being advertised has been704W placed in the Library of the House. These specifications make it clear that the results of previous research, both in this country and elsewhere, must be taken into account. The projects will run for between six months and three years, depending on the nature and complexity of the issues being researched.