asked the Minister for Lands and Fisheries whether he is aware that Donegal Bay, with a coastline of over one hundred and fifty miles from Glen Head to Erris Head, has within recent years been depleted of white fish of every description, due to the prevalent encroachment of fleets of foreign trawlers whose operations destroyed the spawning beds; whether, with a view to protecting the rights of the fishermen along this coastline and for the benefit of the industry on the Western coast for which Donegal Bay had been a spawning ground, the Minister will take the necessary steps to prohibit all trawling in Donegal Bay within a line drawn from Glen Head to Erris Head.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Written Answers. - Trawling in Donegal Bay.
I have no grounds for believing that the waters mentioned have been depleted of white fish of every description from the causes mentioned. I have no power to prohibit trawling within the limits suggested, but steam trawling is prohibited by by-law under the Steam Trawling Act, 1889, within three miles from Glen Head and inside a line from Teelin Head to Rathlin O'Beirne, thence to Inishmurray to Lenadoon Point, and within three miles of the coast beyond that point.