asked the Minister for the Marine the number of angling licences taken out as a result of recent legislation; and the percentage of the total number of anglers which this represents.
Written Answers. - Angling Licences.
149.
The fisheries board who have primary responsibility for the conservation, development and protection of fisheries arrange for the sale of rod angling licences through a network of distributors throughout their regions. There is inevitably some delay in details of sales of licences reaching the fisheries boards. The latest figures available show that more than 5,000 angling licences have been sold to date.
Estimates of the number of anglers vary but I would point out that as the angling season is still in its early stages and no complete returns have as yet been received, it is too early to make predictions as to the percentage of anglers taking out licences.