§ Sir Cranley OnslowTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent discussions he has had with the Environment Agency in respect of the introduction of a new byelaw to change the opening date of the 1997 north-east drift netting season. [5688]
§ Mr. BaldryI wrote to the chairman of the National Rivers Authority on 12 February requesting that the NRA and its successor body, the Environment Agency, reconsider the case for further controls on the exploitation of spring salmon, including postponing the opening date of the north-east coast salmon drift net fishery. Subsequently, officials drew the Environment Agency's attention to advice by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea that measures should be taken to reduce fishing mortality by fisheries exploiting stocks, particularly of multi-sea-winter salmon, other than those in individual rivers which are above minimum biologically accepted levels.