Written Answers to Questions - Northern Ireland Assembly

Friday 20 July 2012 Written Answers
2013 World Police and Fire Games
Mr Elliott asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure for an estimate of the cost to the Executive of
hosting the 2013 World Police and Fire Games.
(AQW 13509/11-15)
Ms Ní Chuilín: The cost of delivering the 2013 World Police and Fire Games is £13.811m, as specified
in a business case addendum approved by DFP in March 2012.
In September 2010 the NI Executive agreed to contribute £6.04m cash to the project. However as
part of the business case addendum approval process my department agreed to try to manage, in
conjunction with the 2013 World Police and Fire Games Ltd., potential cash pressures of £843k from
existing resources. If the pressure is realised it would bring the total cash contribution from the NI
Executive to £6.88m.
ionally a number of stakeholder bodies, such as the PSNI, NIFRS and NIPS, have agreed to ‘in kind’
contributions to the delivery of the games. The ‘in kind’ contributions from NI Executive linked bodies is
£2.51m.
Salmon Conservation Limits
Mr D McIlveen asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, in light of the low percentage
compliance rates in 2010, how her Department plans to improve the compliance with salmon
conservation limits in the Bush, Glendun and Maine rivers.
(AQW 13551/11-15)
Ms Ní Chuilín: My Department is involved in a range of activities aimed at contributing to improvements
in compliance with salmon Conservation Limits in the Bush, Glendun and Maine rivers.
Catchment management is informed by on-going work on each of the rivers to assess juvenile
populations through electro fishing and monitoring of adult salmon by fish counters. My Department
has a full inventory of salmon habitat in each of these rivers derived from habitat surveys and
specialist assessment techniques. A fish passage assessment has been carried out on the River Bush
using hydro acoustic tagging studies.
The Department continues to fulfil its responsibilities under the Fisheries Act (NI) 1966 for the
protection and conservation of fish and fisheries habitat. The Department works with local angling
clubs to develop and implement in river salmon habitat enhancement projects in line with NASCO
commitments.
The protection of wild Atlantic salmon is a priority for my Department and Fisheries Protection Officers
carry out a range of enforcement activities to detect, deter and disrupt those involved in illegal fishing.
In the current season, my Department has brokered the cessation of all commercial netting of wild
salmon in the DCAL jurisdiction. My call for voluntary catch and release of salmon by recreational
anglers has attracted widespread support and the Department has made all Public Angling Estate
waters catch and release only for 2012.
The Department has gone to public consultation on a range of options for salmon conservation
measures for both commercial and recreational salmon fishing. This will inform the development of
salmon conservation policy with the aim of improving the state of salmon stocks in all our rivers.
It is pertinent to mention that there are a number of factors that influence compliance with
Conservation Limits that are outside the control of DCAL, notably the increase in mortality in the
marine phase of the salmon life cycle.
WA 461