Vol. 408 No. 6
40 Mrs. Barnes asked the Minister for the Marine if any new scientific evidence has recently emerged, in his Department or elsewhere, on the causes of the almost total extinction of sea trout in the north-west of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Since I spoke on this matter on the adjournment on 14 February last, no new facts have emerged which would shed any further light on the causes of the sea-trout problem in western fisheries districts.
The research effort to try to establish the cause has been intensified with extra funding from my Department and special arrangements are in train to assist the survival of the remaining sea-trout stocks in the affected rivers.
The scientific research programme in place for 1991 will concentrate on investigating: the physiological mechanisms involved in the sea-trout's transition from freshwater to the sea; possible differences in the selected physiological parameters between depleted sea-trout stocks and those less severely affected; the dynamics of relevant brown trout populations, including interactions between the resident and sea run components of these stocks and the role of sea lice in relation to the above.
I am very much hopeful that this research effort, which is being conducted in close collaboration with the Sea-Trout Action Group (STAG), will provide us at the very least with some pointers at the end of this year as to where the cause of the problem lies.
