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Fish Stocks

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received
 
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about the accuracy of the ascending fish count at Sion Mills; and if he will describe the processes involved in ascertaining the number of fish ascending the River Mourne at this point (a) via the fish counters and (b) over the man-made weir at Sion Mills. [183218]

Mr. Pearson: The Department has not received any representation about the accuracy of the fish counter at Sion Mills.

(a) There are three separate channels that are monitored by fish counters on Sion Mills weir. These facilities have been monitored by video camera and through graphical output of changes in resistance caused by fish migrating over the counter strips. In addition one of the channels has a facility for the installation of a trap upstream of the counter and this has been used to further validate the counts. In the most recent trapping exercise earlier this year five fish were counted electronically and five fish were trapped during the test period. These validation procedures would confirm that the counter is operating efficiently.

(b) During certain water conditions on the River Mourne salmon can pass over the weir without passing through the fish counting channels. This situation has been recognised since the initiation of the use of fish counts from Sion Mills as the primary management tool for the achievement of escapement targets for the salmon stocks of the area in the 1970's. In such conditions Loughs Agency staff are deployed to undertake visual counts of fish migrating over the weir and not passing through the counting channels. The protocol which continues to be applied to these visual counts is that they are multiplied by a factor of three to allow for periods when visibility is such that observations of these movements is impossible (during hours of darkness).

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many fish were recorded by fish counters in the Foyle System in each month in the last three years; and what steps he is taking to develop the Foyle System in the interests of (a) conservation and (b) angling tourism. [183219]

Mr. Pearson: The figures requested are summarised as follows.
Foyle area fish counter data 2001

Month	Faughan (42)	Finn (43)	Roe	Mourne (44)	Owenkillew/Glenelly
January	—	15	—	—	—
February	—	8	—	—	—
March	—	48	—	—	—
April	—	133	—	—	—
May	4	233	27	222	15
June	93	2,317	304	3,517	85
July	+	136	365	1,320	260
August	739	127	1,090	358	410
September	274	179	422	281	841
October	259	97	856	358	749
November	116	60	153	167	323
December	33	-42	48	27	59
Total	1,518	3,311	3,265	6,250	2,742

⁽⁴²⁾ Faughan—The Faughan Counter was inoperable during July due to water seeping through to connections and causing corrosion.
⁽⁴³⁾ Finn—This figure is not a total count for the Finn. Field trials were held on the development of a new resistivity counter on Channel 1 and as a result of teething problems an incomplete count was achieved on this channel for June and part of July. The December figure has become negative due to kelts leaving towards the end of the month.
⁽⁴⁴⁾ Mourne—Sion Mills
Similar to the Faughan water seeped through and caused serious problems with corrosion of metallic connections unfortunately this coincided with the main grilse run at the end of June and the beginning of July so this figure is likely to be a substantial underestimate of the run.




 
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Foyle area fish counter data 2002

	Number of fish >45 cm.
Month	Mourne	Finn	Roe	Faughan	Owenkillew
January	—	21	34	-4	-14
February	—	34	-1	-19	-6
March	—	403	-15	-3	-6
April	—	238	-28	3	-52
May	239	189	69	72	-11
June	3,906	4,311	778	261	186
July	5,236	284	1,653	1,126	434
August	1,278	51	1,107	1,592	487
September	1,042	55	511	594	655
October	679	141	742	317	1,667
November	432	62	430	259	1,199
December	179	-21	179	30	4
Total	12,991	5,768	5,459	4,228	4,543

Foyle area fish counter data 2003

	Number of fish >45 cm.
Month	Mourne	Finn	Roe	Faughan	Owenkillew
January	—	2	—	—	—
February	—	-11	—	—	—
March	—	43	—	—	—
April	—	104	—	—	—
May	127	695	26	5	7
June	6,040	1,371	114	468	493
July	2,837	2,962	1,604	1,182	934
August	212	1	276	430	76
September	1,002	809	518	186	216
October	731	396	954	462	182
November	952	183	535	362	1
December	228	-94	59	2	-1
Total	12,129	6,461	4,086	3,097	1,908

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what representations he has received about the accuracy of the fish counter on the River Roe; and if he will describe the processes involved in ascertaining the number of fish that ascend this counter. [183221]

Mr. Pearson: The Department has not received any representations about the accuracy of the fish counter on the River Roe.

The fish counter in operation on the River Roe as with the others operating in the Foyle Area provides not only numbers of fish migrating over the counter strips on the weir, but also a graphical representation of the changes in resistance measured by these strips when a fish passes through the counter. These graphical outputs are used to ensure the counter is recording fish migrations accurately.

However, further validation of the Roe counts will be facilitated by the installation of video equipment later this month which will monitor fish passage across the weir and relate this directly to the fish counter and the electronic signal generated.
 
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Headache Sufferers

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of cluster headache sufferers who receive domiciliary oxygen in Northern Ireland. [183029]

Angela Smith: The information requested is not available.

Mammogram Screening

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the criteria are for routine mammogram screening in Northern Ireland; and what consideration has been given to amending these criteria. [182623]

Angela Smith: At present in Northern Ireland women between 50 and 64 are invited every three years for mammography screening. While women aged 65 and over are not routinely called for screening, they can make an appointment, if they so wish, through their local screening centre. Plans to extend the screening programme to women aged 65 to 70 are now well advanced here and the Department expects that all Boards will be in a position to begin implementing the extension in 2005.
 
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Mental Health

Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what financial resources have been allocated towards tackling mental ill health in Northern Ireland (a) in each of the last five years and (b) for future years. [183018]

Angela Smith: Details of total expenditure on the Mental Health Programme of Care in Northern Ireland for each of the last five years are listed in the following table:

Year ended March	Total expenditure (£ million)
1999	114.8
2000	124
2001	133.2
2002	139.3
2003	150.8

In October 2002 DHSSPS initiated a wide-ranging independent review of the law, policy and service provision affecting people with a mental health problem or a learning disability. The recommendations from this Review are expected to have a strong influence on decisions for future funding for mental health and learning disability services.

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