asked the Minister for Fisheries the facilities which are at the disposal of his Department for estimating the stocks of fish available off this country's coast.
Written Answers . - Fish Stocks .
127.
: Information collected by my Department regarding fish stocks comes mainly from returns of catches and sampling procedures covering such aspects as age-group composition.
After processing by my Department's scientific staff at the Fisheries Research Centre at Castleknock, County Dublin and various field stations, the information is forwarded to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea who evaluate it in conjunction with similar information supplied by other countries fishing the same stocks.
128.
asked the Minister for Fisheries the total stocks of each major fish species within this country's 50-mile coastal zone; and the amount in each case which can be caught annually, without depleting stocks.
: Data for purposes of conservation and management of stocks at international level is collected on the basis of statistical areas drawn up by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Most of these areas encompass waters within the fishery limits of more than one country.
The state of the stocks of the more important species in these areas is reviewed regularly by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea of which Ireland is a member, and which recommends the desirable maximum level of exploitation. These recommendations form the basis of the EEC Commission's proposals for the total allowable catches within the waters of the member states of the European Communities.